Wandering Blades
by digemsmack
Summary: Fairy Tail has one rule that you can never break no matter the circumstances; this is something that every member learns on their very first day in the guild. But what if that was literally the only way to save their friends; would any of them be willing to do it not just once but a few times knowing what would happen to them afterwards? Disclaimer I do not own Fairy Tail
1. A Necessary Evil

Ch 1: A Necessary Evil

"Shit, why the hell aren't they staying down!" shouted Erza as she slashed at two more dark mages that were advancing on them and sent them flying back.

"I don't know and don't really care since it just means I don't need to hold back on them." stated Natsu with a grin as he smashed one of the dark mages in the face with a fiery fist and sent him soaring back into some of his fellow members.

"Usually I would argue with you about that, but given our circumstances I say let your dragon out." she replied while swatting away a few more dark mages that were trying to get past her.

"All right then Erza, I'm all fired up." he stated after tossing two more of them away and kicking a third one through one of the walls.

"Don't go all out Natsu, we don't want them dead." she shouted after seeing the huge grin that came over his face after she gave him the okay to kick it up another notch. His grin faltered for just a second before he took a wide stance and brought his hands to his mouth to unleash a move of his that she had seen him do countless number of times before.

 **"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"** he bellowed as a huge amount of fire spewed from his mouth as he turned his head from one side of the room to the other. He effectively blasted all of their opponents away with a stream of fire in the process of him doing that motion two more times.

"That should do the trick." stated Erza with a proud grin at Natsu being able to clear a room like that.

"I'd hope so, it's hard keeping it going for that long while also making sure they don't die." he replied with a smug look.

"You've definitely become a strong mage Natsu, I think you actually might even be able to take me on now." she said with a smile as his eye lit up at hearing her say that about him.

"You hear that Stripper, Erza even thinks I can beat her." he said looking back at his friend that could barely stand because of the injuries that he sustained during their fight that finally ended.

"I heard Flame Brain, but it won't matter since I'm winning the trials next month." said Gray as he held up a knocked out Lucy on his left shoulder, which contributed to him having a hard time standing.

"Dream on Ice Cube, I'm definitely going to knock your scrawny ass out the first chance I get." declared Natsu as he made his way over to Gray. Ready to knock him out right there if he needed to, but came to a screeching halt thanks to an ironclad hand grabbing his arm.

"You weren't just about to try and start a fight with Gray right now, were you Natsu?" she asked while glaring at him as a red aura surrounded her.

"Nope, we're definitely weren't about to start fighting Erza. I was actually going to offer to carry Lucy for him so he can take it easy for a bit." he replied in a slightly nervous tone.

"Glad to hear, I prefer seeing you two helping the other out rather than that constant fighting you usually do." she stated while letting go of his arm.

"I don't need your help Ash Mouth." hissed Gray as Natsu came over to him and held out his arms for Lucy while grinning at him with a smug look. Letting Gray know that if he did in fact hand over Lucy to him it would be him admitting that Natsu was stronger, which he would never admit to in a million years.

"Suit yourself Gray." he replied with a smirk before heading over to Erza who was now inspecting one of the knocked out mages.

"Hmmm." she let out while resting her chin on one of her left hand and taking up a thoughtful pose.

"What is it Erza, did you figure out why they were so hard to take down?" he asked while coming up to her left side.

"Actually it's the exact opposite." she stated with a confused expression now on her face.

"How so?" asked Gray who had set Lucy gently down on one of the few remaining tables.

"From what I can tell most of these dark mages aren't unique or special in any way that I can tell, except for possibly being physically weaker than your average human." she replied with a furrowed brow, trying to come up with an explanation for this.

"What are you talking about Erza, those guys were taking and giving punches that even Elfman would call manly." stated Natsu with an upset expression.

"And that's exactly why I'm confused, here take a look at this." she said while pointing out one of the mage's legs.

"That looks broken to me." he stated in a bored tone.

"There's no way that guy's leg is broken he was one of the last guys to be taken down." shouted Gray as he came over to them to see for himself.

"That he was, so how was he still fighting us with an injury like that. And he's not the only one that has crippling injuries that should have taken them out of the fight." pointed out Erza as she showed them a few other dark mages with broken bones.

"Do you think it was some sort of potion or spell that didn't let them feel pain?" asked Natsu, causing the other two to look at him in disbelief.

"That could actually be the explanation for all of this." she stated in a shocked tone as she continued to look at him strangely.

"You know you two don't have to look and sound so surprised about me knowing what's going on." he stated with a slight pout.

"Actually we kind of have to Charcoal Breath since ninety percent of the things that you say are completely idiotic." replied Gray with a big grin as Natsu's face contorted to one of rage.

"Like you're any better Snow Princess." said Natsu about to charge at him until he smelt something off.

"Would you two cut it out." hissed Erza since she also noticed that it felt like something was off with all of this.

"I'm only stating the tru…" started Gray until Natsu tackled him to the floor and then got off of him the very next second and started to glare at the second level of the building.

"What the hell was that for idiot!" shouted Gray only to look and see that were he once stood was now a fairly large hole with odd smoke coming out of it.

"Quite the impressive reflexes the two of you have. And you're correct about it being a spell Salamander, but it also does so much more than just getting rid of their pain." came a voice from the shadows in the second level.

"I thought you two got all of them in that last attack." stated Gray as he got ready to fight even though it would have to be just hand to hand combat since he was tapped out of his magic.

"Apparently we missed one." replied Erza who was now next to Lucy in case she was targeted next.

"That would be two actually." corrected Natsu in a growl as he locked onto two shadowy figures that came towards the railing.

"Your senses are quite impressive Salamander, I think I'm going to enjoy having you in my guild." said the newest enemy to appear in an angelic voice that caught the mages of Fairy Tail off guard.

"It would appear that they didn't expect you to be a lady Master." said the first voice in an amused tone.

"Does it really matter what we expected since we're going to take you two down just like we did to the rest of your guild." declared Natsu as both of his fist were set ablaze.

"Such confidence, and look at that power he has." said the Master as she came into view, letting them all finally see her. The first thing that popped into the minds of all three Fairy Tail mages heads was Levy, for just a brief second since the master's figure was almost identical to hers. But that was the only thing that they shared in common, the woman before them had white hair that went to the middle of her back while up in a ponytail. She had red piercing eyes that looked like they could peer into your very soul, and draped around her shoulders was a dark grey cloak. Underneath that cloak she wore a skin tight leather suit that left noting to your imagination, and to finish off her look she had a pair of black leather gloves and boots that seemed to match.

"Indeed Master, he'll make a great addition to the guild." said the man as he revealed himself to them as well. His outfit consisted of a dark brown robe that kept everything underneath hidden except for his grey pants and brown boots that stuck out on bottom. His face was also a mystery to the mages of Fairy Tail because it was completely wrapped in white bandages only allowing him to see through small slits they left open for him.

"Like I would ever join a dark guild." scoffed Natsu as his fire grew in intensity at the mere thought of it.

"Who said you had a choice in this Salamander." said the Master as a sinister smile spread across her lips.

"Gray, take Lucy and get out of here." stated Erza as she kept her eyes on these two since they made her skin crawl.

"There's no way I'm going to just leave the two of you to deal with these two all by yourselves." shouted Gray defiantly as he still stood in his fighting stance.

"It seems like they still have a little fight left in them Master." stated the man.

"They're mages from Fairy Tail Boris so what did you expect. But this Salamander fellow is quite the rare specimen so leave him to me." replied his Master with a little giggle as she slowly started to make her way towards the railing.

"You'll never lay a finger on him while I'm here!" shouted Erza as she leapt towards the small guild Master. But she was shocked when a bandaged hand grabbed her shoulder and threw her straight back down to the first level as a burning sensation could now be felt on that same shoulder.

"Erza your armor!" shouted Gray in shock as he pointed to a hole in the shape of a hand that was burned clean through it and leaving a red hand print on her. She took a quick glance and then switched to her Flight Armor and glared back up at the man.

"My Master doesn't want to be disturbed while she inspects her new member." stated Boris now standing on the railing.

"Well I'm more than happy to take you down a couple of notches." said Natsu while cracking his knuckles and then charging at the dark guild Master.

 **"RISE!"** she shouted while lifting up he arm in a swift motion. All of the Fairy Tail members were shocked to see all of the previously defeated dark mages get back to their feet as if they hadn't all just been knocked out.

"What the fuck is going on?" asked Gray as he started to hit away a few of the mages that were now attacking them again.

"That would me my magic, Marionette Magic, isn't it just beautiful?" asked the Master as her guild members where now holding Natsu at bay along with the other two.

"Like hell it is, it's just plain creepy!" shouted Natsu as he knocked back four more dark mages only for four new ones to take their place.

"How is this even possibly?" asked Erza as she was getting pushed back by the dark mages being controlled by their Master along with the man in bandages that had already burnt holes into two more of her armors.

"Simple, my Master can control anyone with our guild mark on them." said Boris as he jumped back up to the second level and stood by his Master.

"But what about their injuries?" she asked with a little concern for the dark mages that were still attacking despite being severely wounded.

"So long as they're still alive I can keep using them. And as you've probably noticed already the closer they are to death, the less control I have over them." stated the Master with a wicked grin now prominently displayed on her lips.

"Natsu stop!" shouted Erza right before he was about to land a punch on one of the dark mages causing him to stop and then be sent flying back from a hit to his face.

"Why did you stop me?" he growled out while landing some devastating blows on some of the enemies within his reach.

"Weren't you paying attention, of course you weren't. Well here's the quick explanation, their Master is using them like disposable dolls until they die. So any of the slower ones you can't attack otherwise you might kill them." she said while finding it hard to follow her own words since they kept on getting back up.

"Shit." said Grey before he was thrown into a wall and knocked out.

"Get him and Lucy, I'll deal with the Master!" shouted Natsu as he blasted away a few of the dark mages while dodging the ones that were slower. Slowly he made his way closer and closer towards the guild Master that continued to have that smug smile on her face as she watched him draw closer to her.

"Be careful Natsu!" shouted Erza as she now had Gray and Lucy in a corner together with her standing in front of them protectively.

"You won't be able to reach me if you're not willing to take a life." stated the Master as Natsu was now halfway up the stairs.

"We'll see about that!" he shouted back as he jumped onto the side of the wall and used it to spring over the remaining enemies that blocked his way up the stairs. Landing right behind then as he took off at a run for the small guild Master that was literally willing to have her mages die for her without a care in the world.

 **"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"** he shouted as he swung his fist at her head but stopped as one of the other mages just barely got in between the two of them in time. Natsu was then sent through the railing and plummeting to the second level curtesy of two different mages being controlled by her.

"Like I said earlier Salamander, it's impossible to reach me without getting your hands a little dirty." she replied while starting to chuckle as the remaining two Fairy Tail wizards were now getting overwhelmed. But they somehow still held them off for another two whole agonizing minutes.

"Erza I don't know how much longer I'm going to last with all of this dodging." he said from a little ways away from her while dealing with about two thirds of the dark mages.

"We'll think of something." came her tired response as they both continued to fight.

"Boris I only want Salamander so dispose of those three and don't be concerned about any collateral damage." stated the Master with a gleeful smile as a look of horror came over Natsu and Erza from hearing this.

"As you wish Master." replied Boris as he held out his hands and green liquid started to form up. Natsu knew right away that Erza wasn't going to be able to protect herself and everyone else from that attack, so no longer caring who was in his way he started to make his way towards them.

 **"ACID BLAST!"** shouted Boris as he launched a steady stream of his acid at the group of three Fairy Tail mages. That now had Erza in her Adamantine Armor with the shield closed and waiting for the attack to hit them, but instead heard a sound that she had heard many times before. But in the situation that they were in didn't make sense at all, until it dawned on her that he was just dumb enough to try something like that again.

"Well that was unexpected." stated the Master in an amused tone as Natsu sucked up all of Boris' attack.

"Natsu you idiot!" Erza yelled at him as he gave her his usual grin.

"Sorry Erza, I'm not losing any of you today." he stated still grinning until he fell to the ground suddenly and started to make choking sounds while clawing at his throat.

"Such a shame, he would have been one of my best soldiers." stated the Master as she resumed her attack on Erza no longer caring about Natsu writhing on the floor.

"Idiot should have known better to do something as stupid as that." said Boris while shaking his head as he watched Erza finally fall to the floor. As more of the dark mages started to savagely beat her, not giving her the chance to get back up and fight back.

"Natsu…" she said while her eyes started to close, but not before a green flame shot into the ceiling from where the dragon slayer was. All of the dark mages instantly stopped attacking her because their Master was mesmerized by the green flames that were shooting out of Natsu as he let out an ear splitting roar.

"Beautiful." was all she could say or even think as she watched the fire slowly go down to now only surrounding the dragon slayer that had his head looking at the floor.

"He should be dead." stated Boris in shock as he looked at him.

"Now I really want him." replied his Master as she turned all of her dark mages to focus on him. All of them ready to attack him at her simple command.

"You said that I would have to get my hands dirty to beat you." said Natsu still with his head down.

"Yes I did Salamander, but as we've already seen you're not capable of doing that." she stated with a smirk. That was instantly lost as Natsu shot a stream of green fire at a large group of the dark mages that were then disintegrated a second from the waist up.

"Well I'll be more than happy to do that if it's the only way to save my friends." he replied while glaring up at her with his eyes that now had vertical slits that glowed green and had a reptilian feel to them.

The next second he was charging her completely annihilating any dark mage that got in between him and his prey. She was thrown off by this and had all of her mages try and swarm him, which looked like it was going to work after they pinned his arms and had him on the floor. Until Natsu let out another ear splitting roar and destroyed every dark mage that was in a five foot radius of him thanks to the green flames shooting off of him, now allowing him to jump up to her.

"What are you going to do now that you're out of people to control?" he asked while slowly walking towards the guild Master that was backing away from him in fear.

"She still has me!" shouted Boris as he tried to grab his face but was stopped just an inch away from it. And he watched in horror as the acid that was coating that hand started to drip into Natsu's mouth, not being able to do anything because of the iron grip he was being held with. And had to wait the ten seconds it took for his acid to drip into the dragon slayer's wide open mouth.

"And all you've done for her is refuel me." he stated while snapping Boris' wrist and then blowing fire right into the man's face as he screamed out in pain for a few seconds. Until what remained of his body fell to the floor with a sickening thud, as Natsu set his eyes on the person responsible for all of this death in his opinion.

"Stay back!" she screamed while starting to throw anything she could get her hands on at him.

"Didn't you say that I didn't have a choice about me becoming one of your members?" he asked while effortlessly dodging everything she threw at him.

"Please don't kill me?" she begged now that she was backed into a corner.

"Sorry but who said you had a choice." he said with an angry expression.

In the nearest town to the dark guild, people could have sworn they heard a shrill scream echo throughout the mountains for a few seconds and then fade to absolute silence. Most of them just passed it of as them just hearing things like their mountain range is known to do some times. But those that didn't write it off as just hearing things knew they were correct when a man carrying three wounded people staggered into town just a few hours later.

 **The next day:**

She was surprised when she opened her eyes at all and was greeted with the rising sun shining through the window in their hotel room that they rented the previous night. Since she distinctly remembered closing her eyes knowing that she wasn't going to be opening them ever again as a green flame shot into the air.

"Natsu!" shouted Erza as she shot upright in her bed, frantically scanning for her friend.

"It's alright Erza, I'm right here." he said from a chair that was pulled up next to her bed.

"Gray?" she asked with a scared look in her eyes.

"He's fine and so is Lucy, they're both still asleep since they've never been able to recover as fast as either of us." he replied with a little grin that seemed off to her somehow.

"That's good to hear." she said only to start having a little freak out and tried to explain herself better. "Not about them not healing as fast as us but about them being alright." she continued to only stop because of him chuckling softly at her.

"I know Erza, but I'm kind of glad I got to see you get flustered like since it only ever happens every once in a while." he said still with what Erza would call his sad grin.

"You're making it sound like you're never going to have the chance to see it again." she stated now really concerned about him.

"You should know better than anyone else right now Erza how it could all be over before you know it." he stated still having that same sad grin.

"Yes I know, but it didn't happen just yet Natsu. And what happened after I got knocked out since I really thought that was the end for us?" she asked instantly noticing his face becoming even sadder as he then turned away from her and looked out the window.

"What's the last thing you remember Erza?" he asked in a calm voice that lacked the energy his normal one usually had.

"I remember you consuming that acid attack for me, which I never want to see you doing something as stupid as that ever again!" she replied while glaring at the back of his head, only for him to let out a little chuckle at her comment.

"I promise you'll never see me do something as stupid as that again." he stated after he stopped chuckling.

"It better be, and then you fell to the ground and I honestly thought you were dying. And I couldn't hold them off any longer without your help so they took me down and as I was passing out I think I saw green flames. Was that you Natsu?" she asked with a little bit of excitement in her voice, thinking that if it was him then he'd be excited to show it to her.

"Yes it was, so that's all you can remember?" he replied while still looking out the window.

"Yeah so what can you do with those flames Natsu?" she asked, knowing by the strange way he was acting that she honestly didn't want to know how they all got out of there alive. And she came to the realization that she would be fine with never knowing if that was an option so long as it meant everything went back to normal.

"They allow me to even burn metal in an instant, and don't you want to know how we got out of there?" he asked in a sad tone.

"We all got out alive Natsu that's all I need to know." she replied while getting up and standing next to him in front of the window.

"If only that were true Erza." he said as they then stood there in silence for a few minutes. "I kept telling myself it was either do what had to be done or watch all of you die, which is something I never could've done Erza. I would rather die than have to lose someone as close to me as you three are." he said while wiping away a few tears before they could even fall.

"Natsu, you really don't have to tell me what happened. No matter what you did you're still the same person that I grew up with and has always gone the extra distance. You've always done what no one else could do in order to protect me and all of Fairy Tail as well." she said while looking over at his sad expression as he continued to watch the sunrise.

"Thanks Erza, but even if I don't tell you there's no way you won't find out. The Council is already investigating the guild hall and seizing anything of value and then they'll be sending a report back to Gramps about what happened. I've already told them what went on in there, so it's only a matter of time until the rumors start spreading." he replied once again having that sad grin of his.

"If you want to tell then go ahead." she stated while grabbing one of his hands and putting her other one on top of it and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"They're all dead, I killed every single last one of them Erza." he replied in a defeated tone that sounded so wrong coming from him.

"You didn't have a choice Natsu, and you only did it to save us." she pointed out hoping he would realize this.

"That's unfortunately not true; I had a choice when it was only me and her. And all I could think about right then was it being all of her fault, so I killed her so she could never force someone else to do what I did." he stated as he turned to her with a questioning look.

"That doesn't make you like them at all, you didn't enjoy doing it did you?" she asked him back while looking directly into his onyx eyes that for a second had a tint of green to them.

"No." he replied as he looked back into her big brown ones.

"Then you're the same Natsu that I've known since I was a kid." she stated with a slight smile that caused him to slowly grin back at her.

"Thanks, but I don't think everyone else will think the same as you on this." he replied with a frown and was shocked when she suddenly started to hug him.

"If that's the case then I'll help the rest of them understand." she said with smile, glad that she could help him out like he's always done for her and everyone else in Fairy Tail.

"Will you promise me one thing Erza?" he asked after a few moments of them hugging.

"That depends on what it is Natsu." she replied while looking at him with a grin.

"Will you promise to look after Fairy Tail no matter what happens?" he asked with a stone cold stare.

"Of course I will Natsu, and that includes you." she said while resting her head against his chest with a content smile making its way across her lips. While all Natsu could think of was that it included him for now, but getting her to agree to that promise made him feel better. Knowing that she wouldn't try and come with him and that someone would have everyone else's back once he had to leave.

"How do you think Gray and Lucy will handle this news?" he asked with concerned look.

"They'll understand as well, both of them will realize that it was for them which they probably won't like but it's better than being dead." she stated while listening to his heart beat that calmed down a bit after hearing her reply.

"I really hope so." he stated as he looked out the window and couldn't help but admire how beautiful it looked as it slowly made its way over the mountains.

 **Two days later at Fairy Tail:**

Erza was correct about the other two members of their team accepting what happened and they eventually even tried to help cheer up the melancholy Natsu. But unfortunately they didn't have much luck with that, Gray couldn't even get him to start a fight with him. Every insult he threw at him was only returned with that sad grin of his as if he was trying to savor every last moment they shared on the trip back to the guild.

They were all hoping that once Natsu entered the guild he would revert back to his normal goofball self. But unfortunately that didn't even have a small chance of happening because as soon as they entered the guild it instantly became deathly quiet. With absolutely every eye looking at Natsu wanting to know if it was really true, while also dreading the answer that they were going to receive which is why no one asked him.

"Natsu." came the voice of Master Makarov who was sitting on the bar with a stern expression on his face.

"Yes Gramps." he replied while walking over to him. Noticing along the way that Wendy was hugging Happy as she watched every one of his moves with a very sad look on her face.

"I assume you know what I'm about to ask you." he stated with a frown.

"Yes I do and unfortunately everything in the Council's report is true." said Natsu with a stern look on his face as he looked back at his Master, which unfortunately was only going to stay that way for a few more minutes at least.

"Do you have anything else you want to add to that?" he asked looking at him, hoping for him to give him some reason to not have to do this to him of all people.

"That if I was given the choice right now to go back and have I do over; I would do it again without a second thought. Because given the choice between watching my friends die and having to kill to prevent that isn't a choice for me at all. Each and every time I would always pick saving my friends because that is what matters the most to me Gramps." answered Natsu once again having that sad grin he had been using for the last two days.

"I'm glad that you're that confident with the decision you made Natsu." he said with a sad smile that matched Natsu's grin.

"One of the few times in my life that I'm not second guessing myself at all." stated Natsu as he looked into Makarov's eyes letting him know that it was okay to do what he had.

"Hopefully you'll be able to keep doing that more often in your life." he said wanting to prolong this as long as possible so he wouldn't have to do it.

"That'd be nice Gramps, and you should get going with this. We both know it has to be done and I knew that it was all going to end this way." said Natsu causing a few members to question what was going on. While some of the others were already trying to fight back the tears that were coming.

"You right, so against my own wishes I hereby expel you from Fairy Tail, Natsu Dragneel. You can no longer wear our emblem or ever do anything that comes along with that emblem." stated Makarov in a sad voice. Only for half of the guild to erupt at hearing this, none protesting louder than his team that were now explaining what happened and how this was too severe of a punishment. And it would have continued on for who knows how long if the person in question didn't speak up.

"That's enough everyone; can't you see that he doesn't want to do this anymore than the rest of you? But unfortunately he has to because of the rules that are set in place to help make Fairy Tail into the place that we all know and love. And that's one of the reasons that I actually did all of that because I want Fairy Tail to remain the same." he said just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Then we should change that rule to allow certain circumstances such as this instance." stated Erza with a determined look.

"If we did that then we'd have to deal with figuring out if it was the only option, which we both know wouldn't work like any of us would want Erza. It's easier and smarter to have it this way to get rid of the possibility of someone trying to use that as an excuse. Also this way hopefully less people will have to know what it feels like to end someone else's life." he replied with that sad grin.

"But why should you have to leave when everyone clearly wants you to stay?" asked Lucy as she looked at the man that had always been there for her when she needed him the most.

"Because I wouldn't feel right calling myself a mage of Fairy Tail after what I did." he answered with his head down.

"Come on Flame Brain, that's just you being too hard on yourself." stated Gray with a grin.

"Sorry Gray, but it isn't and that's something I knew after I killed the first one and only became more certain of after each time I did it again." he said while looking up at him with a sad smile as everyone watched him remove his Fairy Tail Emblem that he used to wear so proudly. All of them realizing at that moment he no longer saw himself as one of them and wasn't likely to change that opinion anytime soon.

"NATSUUUUU!" cried out Happy as he rammed into his chest.

"Yes Happy?" asked Natsu with a grin that was the closet to his normal one so far.

"I'm coming with you." declared the Exceed as he cried into his father figure's chest.

"Sorry buddy but you can't." he said still with that grin that was just shy of his usual one.

"Why not?" asked Happy as he looked up him with teary eyes.

"Because I have something really important that only you can do." he replied.

"What is it Natsu?" asked Happy again not knowing if he could do what was going to be asked of him.

"I need you to help keep an eye out on Wendy for me since I'm not going to be around for who knows how long. And this is something that I would only be okay with trusting to you." he explained in just a whisper while having a serious expression on his face the whole time. Happy remained silent for a few more moments only to then go back to hugging him while crying again.

"Can I count on you doing this for me buddy?" he asked while he tried to calm him down.

"Aye Sir!" said Happy with a big smile before he flew back to Wendy who instantly brought him into a hug as they both started to cry again. Seeing that and all of the other members looking at him with teary eyes was more than he could handle right now. So Natsu turned around and started to head for the door without saying another word but only got halfway there before someone stopped him.

"Natsu, wait." said Erza as she caught up with him.

"Before you say anymore Erza I want you to remember the promise that you made to me just two days ago." he stated with his back still to most of the guild, and more importantly her. Hearing this caused Erza to let out a little gasp knowing that he only made her promise that because he knew this was going to happen to him. And him being the caring idiot that he is wanted to make sure that everyone else in the guild would still at least have her looking after them.

"Do you remember Erza?" he asked again, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Yes I do Natsu." she replied in just a whisper, now regretting that she agreed to something like that without seeing something like this coming.

"Good, then I can leave knowing that they're in good hands." he replied just loud enough for her to hear him and then started to walk away again.

"Wait Natau!" said Makarov just before he reached the door.

"What is it Gramps, the world is literally waiting for me." he said with a little chuckle.

"Whenever a mage leaves Fairy Tail there are three rules that they must follow." stated Makarov with a stern look directed at the backside of Natsu's head.

"Gramps we know that's only used for members that aren't expelled and have chosen to leave." he stated as a grin started to slowly form.

"The first rule is this: You must never reveal sensitive information about Fairy Tail to others for as long as you live." said Makarov loudly as he now smiled at Natsu.

"Gramps this is really not necessary." he said only for another person to speak up.

"The second rule is Flame Brain: You must never use former contacts met through your membership in the guild for personal gain." said Grey as he now had a small grin on his face. Natsu was about to speak up again but hearing her speak caused him to remain silent.

"The third and final rule is this Natsu: Though our paths may have diverged, you must continue to live out your life with all of your might, you must never consider your own life to be something insignificant, and you must never forget about your friends for as long as you live." said Erza as she no longer cared if anyone saw her crying and let them flow freely, as she and every other member raised their hands in the air while doing the hand sigh even though he still had his back to them.

"You guys are really the best kind of family a guy like me could ever ask for. Even if I can't see you... no matter how far away you may be... I will always be watching you." he stated while raising his right arm into the air and doing the sigh right back to them before exiting through the doors with one of his usual grins that no one else got to see. Leaving behind his closest friends and family knowing that they would be able to handle themselves without him for a little while, well that's what he thought at least.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. So yes I know that half of my stories are Natsu leaving the guild, but I thought it would be a little different if I had it were pretty much no one wanted him to leave but he felt that he needed to. So over all there shouldn't be very many hurt feelings between them whenever he returns, oh and I know I mentioned it in the story but this happened right before the S-Class exams. And once again don't worry I'm not focusing on the time when the Tenrou group is gone like I am in Master Dragneel. So the last thing I want to do for this note of mine is give a shout out to Neah Walker 17 for helping me come up with parts of this story. So as always feel free to drop me a review or pm and I'll hit you back up.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem out!**


	2. A Destined Encounter

Ch 2: A Destined Encounter

 **December 12th X784 two weeks after Natsu's expulsion at Fairy Tail:**

"He's really gone isn't he?" asked Erza with a frown as she watched the doors. Getting a hopeful look on her face every time that they were opened, only for someone other than the person she really wanted to see right now to enter through them.

"I'm afraid so Erza, but I'm sure he'll show up sooner or later." answered Mira who seemed to have somewhat lost her smile at the departure of the resident fire dragon slayer.

"He better, otherwise the next time I see him he's going to get the worst beating he's ever received." she declared with a determined look as she continued to watch the door.

"Don't worry, Natsu loves Fairy Tail too much to never return. He just might take longer than you'd probably like for his first return visit." stated Mira with a slight smile, glad to see a determined look on Erza for a change. Rather than seeing the sad one that she now almost always had on her face after his departure.

"So you're saying it could be a few more weeks?" she asked looking at the barmaid with a hopeful look.

"Oh no, that's what you think a long time is?" asked Mira with a sad look.

"Of course it is, just look how the guild is without him being here. Everyone just says a few greetings to each other and then go to their usual groups and talk quietly with them or just go on jobs to not be here. Natsu made this place busy with life and somehow got it so everyone was involved in with each other." she replied while gesturing to the quite guild hall.

"There hasn't even been a single guild wide brawl since he left." stated Mira with a frown.

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this but that's one of the things I miss the most about him not being here." she said while looking down at the counter with a sad look.

"He'd be laughing his ass off in disbelief if he ever learned that you missed him fighting with Gray. How is he and Lucy taking all of this?" asked Mira with a concerned look.

"Lucy is trying to put on a strong face and keeps smiling but its fake. She really misses him and you can't blame her since he brought her here and was always there for her whenever she felt sad or was in danger." she replied as she looked at Mira and saw a slight grin spread across the barmaid's face.

"She's not the only one that he somehow always showed up in time to save, or even just be there to let you know you're not alone." stated Mira still having that slight grin.

"He did that for you too?" asked Erza with a stunned look.

"Actually I guess he did, but I was actually talking about you. And before you try to deny it I've seen how you've been constantly watching the door for him. Not to mention you two were acting really strange before he left and that some sort of a promise you made to him." answered Mira, wanting to figure out what exactly was going on between the two of them.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." she denied as her cheeks started to have a hint of pink to them now.

"Cut the crap Erza, you were going to go with him weren't you? And the only reason you didn't was because of some weird promise he made you give him that day." accused Mira as she leaned against the bar so there faces were just a few inches apart.

"How could you tell that I was thinking about doing that?" asked Erza barely above a whisper with her head down as well.

"Because I could tell that you love him Erza, and don't worry I'm the only one that knows. I honestly almost missed it at first, but there were a few things that gave it away." she said with a little smile.

"Like what?" asked Erza as she looked up at her questioningly.

"The ever so slight grin you'd have while just looking at him. Also every once and awhile you two would lock eyes for a few moments and then both look away with embarrassed expressions. You'd also usually be just a little bit harsher with Gray when you broke them up from fighting each other. And you still need to tell me about how Gray is taking this, but first I want to know why you stayed instead of going with him?" she asked now having a concerned look on her face.

"He made me promise to look after Fairy Tail no matter what happened. I should have known right then and there he knew he was going to be leaving." replied Erza as she clenched her fists in anger at herself for not spotting something that obvious sooner.

"Erza you couldn't have known then, besides that isn't really that odd of a promise to make with him. And you were obviously thinking that he would still be a member of Fairy Tail when you promised him that." she said with sad look, knowing that Erza was really beating herself about all of this. First for not being strong enough to prevent Natsu from having to do what he did to save the rest of them, and for also agreeing to his last request which prevented her from following after him.

"But I still should have known; I'm an S-Class mage for crying out loud Mira. And under my supervision he had to take the lives of those dark mages to save me and the rest of the team. While knowing that he was going to get kicked out of the guild which he's always seen as his family to do who knows what now that he's all alone." shouted Erza as a few tears escaped her eyes, only to then be brought into a hug by the barmaid.

"It's not your fault Erza and you know that is exactly what he would be saying to you right now. He'd also say that he hates seeing you cry because it ruins such a pretty face." she said quietly as she hugged the knight who let out a sad chuckle at that.

"But it's okay to let it out Erza, I will always be there if you ever need a shoulder to cry on or someone to just talk to." she continued as Erza let out a few more tears while they were still hugging.

"Thanks Mira and I'll probably take you up on that offer." replied Erza as she wiped away her last tear.

"Anytime, so how is Gray doing?" asked Mira for third time today.

"He's taking it pretty hard and doesn't want to spend any more time here than he has to. Obviously he would never admit this but Natsu was like a brother to him and he probably only just realized that now." she answered with a frown.

"Should I go talk with him and try to get him back here?" asked Mira.

"No I think Juvia will eventually get him back here soon." she replied with a slight grin.

"Gray and Juvia are with each other now?" asked a shocked Mira.

"Not like that Mira, but they've been going on jobs together and are actually talking now so it's a start at least. Apparently he needed a wakeup call to realize that she just wanted to be with him and decided to see where it goes I guess. I just wish it wasn't Natsu leaving that got him to finally acknowledge her." she explained with a frown.

"You and me both Erza, I just hope Natsu is still taking care of himself." stated Makarov with a sad look in his eyes.

"How long have you been there Master?" asked Erza with a startled look on her face.

"I've been here long enough to realize that I need to apologize to you for all of this and I am truly sorry about doing that to him. But I know that he'll be back once he can come to terms with everything and hopefully by then he'll realize that he's still the same person we all know and love." he said with slight grin but still had that sad look in his eyes.

"Thanks Master." she replied with a sad look, knowing that he was probably almost hurting as much as her about all of this. Most might think that he'd be happy to be rid of the destructive dragon slayer that caused him more paperwork than the rest of the guild combined. But most of the guild knew that the two shared a bond that could never be broken over something as small as bills for property damage, it was just one of the things that the two constantly fought over. Knowing that the other was never going to change because it livened up the guild on the boring days, just like how he would always pick fights with Grey to liven up the place a bit.

"I told her the same thing Master, I just hope it's within the next year." stated Mira with a hopeful grin.

"I was thinking within the next six months, because I don't even want to know what it'd be like here if he was gone for longer than that." he stated while shaking his head at the thought of that.

"Does that mean he could rejoin?" asked Erza with a hopeful look.

"Of course he can but that will be up to him, since he'll always be a member in my eyes." he replied as Erza finally had a real smile grace her face for the first time today. That she then lost when she remembered two more members that were also taking his departure very hard.

"How are Wendy and Happy doing, I've only seen them a few times since he left?" she asked with a worried look.

"They both have been crying together a lot, but Carla said that she believes that they'll both come around on their own and they just need a little more time on their own. And since Carla was the one to say that I think we should listen to her because no one cares about Wendy and even Happy as much as she does." stated Mira with a frown, because all she wanted to do was go and comfort the two of them. And she wanted to try and let them both know that everything was going to be alright given enough time.

"I have to agree with you on that one Mira, because Carla is only ever concerned about her wellbeing." he responded with a thoughtful look.

"So have you decided on replacing his spot in the S-Class trials?" asked Mira as she looked at the old master.

"I don't plan on filling his spot, I guess we'll just have to go with one less than we originally planned for this year." he answered as he looked over the rest of the guild, knowing that none of them were ready for it other than the ones he'd already chosen.

"Please just be safe Natsu and return to me as soon as you can." thought Erza as she tried to prepare herself for him not showing up for a few more months.

 **With Natsu:**

For the past two week all he's done really is start training with his new flames and head north. Ever since he consumed that acid attack his flames were now green no matter how hard he tried to get them to go back to orange. He was however able to get rid of the acid effect that they usually had, making them exactly like they were before except for the new color. During this time he was also got a good idea of what his new power was capable of, which to put it simple made him even more destructive than he was before because his fire could now pretty much consume anything that he wanted.

At this moment he was in the middle of the mountain range that contained Mt. Hakobe and planned on cutting through it until he would run into Worth Woodsea forest. Two place's that he would never forget, the first one because it was unofficially the first job that he and Lucy did together and it was during that time he knew she would make a good partner. That would eventually turn into the starting of Team Natsu, as for the second one that was where the whole incident with Nirvana and the Oracion Seis took place and eventually led to Wendy joining Fairy Tail.

But more specifically he was now on a small road in a valley that was leading him to a remote village in these mountains to stock up on some more supplies for his journey outside of the country. Where did he exactly plan to go was still unknown to even him but he knew that he needed to go somewhere that wouldn't know of him as the Salamander or a mage of Fairy Tail.

"I wonder how they're all doing without me right now; they're probably already back to normal? And I honestly hope they are because Fairy Tail should be always remain a happy place where they can all go to relax." thought Natsu as he continued down the road and admired the beauty of the nature around him. Until he heard the ragged breathing of someone running towards him, which caused him to look down further down the road to see who it was.

And he was shocked to see a young woman with a few cuts and bruises running towards him as if her life depended on it. And judging by her disheveled appearance, which could very well be the case for her since her clothes were also stained red with blood.

"Help!" she screamed as soon as she saw him while collapsing to her knees.

"Are you okay lady?" he asked while going to his knees as well and started checking on her condition.

"Two men are after me, and more of them are attacking my village." she stated while she tried to catch her breath.

"Are they bandits?" he asked her, wanting to make sure that he got as much information out of her as he could.

"No much worse, they're Slavers." she replied with a terrified look as he let out a growl of disgust at finding this out. Because in his opinion they were some of the worst kinds of people out there, because they actually viewed people as things that could be bought for whatever purpose that they wanted. And from what he heard it was usually a fate that most people would rather die than have to live through.

"Don't worry I won't let anything happen to you or anyone else in your village." he declared with a determined look in his eyes. As the lady was mesmerized by them and how they seemed to all of a sudden have a green tint to them. She was also amazed at how just hearing him say that put her mind at easy, somehow knowing that he was going to make that happen.

But hearing the approaching sounds of her two pursuers caused that fear from earlier to come flooding back to her. As she instinctively got behind Natsu, hoping that he would do exactly what he just said to her moments earlier. "Looks like she found herself a knight in shining armor." said one of the slavers with a wicked grin.

"I wouldn't call those filthy rags of his armor but I see what you're getting at." chuckled the other one as he rested his long sword on his left shoulder.

"I'm only going to give the two of you this one chance to leave right now before I show you how I feel about slavers." said Natsu as he glared at the two of them.

"Did you hear that Larry, this is our only chance to run from an unarmed man." said the same slaver as he burst into laughter causing Natsu's glare to only intensify.

"Steve I think we shouldn't be taunting him, what if he's a mage." stated Larry nervously as he couldn't help but feel that Natsu wasn't someone to be messed with.

"Even if he's a mage we've dealt with plenty of them, we just have to get close to them and knock them out." replied Steve with a smirk as he took his sword off of its resting spot on his shoulder.

"You really should have listened to your buddy Steve." stated Natsu as both of his clenched fists burst into green flames causing the lady behind him to stagger away from him. As the two slavers both took a step back from him not because of his fire but because of the predatory look he was now giving the two of them.

"I've never seen a fire mage with green flames before, that alone will make you worth more than that whole village." stated Steve now with a determined look of his own.

"And I can guarantee that you'll never see another mage with it again, or actually anything else after we're done here." he said as he started to walk towards the two of them slowly with a confident grin spread across his lips.

"You're going to blind him!" shouted Larry in shock as he took another step back.

"That's the first thing I'm going to do to both of you, after that it's all kind of up in the air to tell you the truth. Because you see, I've just recently been forced to kill people in order to save my own friends from dying. And this has me questioning if some people actually deserve to die so they don't have the chance to go back to ruining other people's lives." he replied now just a few feet away from them.

"Like we give a fuck." said Steve as he charged at Natsu and swung his sword planning to hit him with the broadside since he needed to survive if they were going to sell him. But he and Larry were both shocked when Natsu effortlessly caught the swing with his left hand that was still coated in his green flames.

"If you are coming at me then you better be trying to kill me if you want to even have a chance of landing just one blow." he stated as both of them watched the blade of the sword fall to the ground from where he held it. But before Steve could even backpedal out of there a swift kick to his knee caused him to scream out in pain only for a flaming right hook to hit him in face and send him flying into a nearby tree.

"I yield, just let me leave and you'll never see me again." said Larry with a terrified expression.

"Sorry Larry, but that time has passed and now you're going to get what you probably deserved for a long time now." replied Natsu as he slowly started to advance on him.

"Stay back!" shouted Larry as he started to swing his sword at him in fear. Actually causing Natsu to start chuckling at how easy it was for him to dodge the pitiful attacks, so easy in fact that he decided to try something out just to see if he could do it. And on the next swing he did a quick parry with an open palm and waited to see if it would work like he wanted. Only for the next swing to come at him with the blade no longer being there.

"Seems you lost something there Larry, but now it's time for me to end this so I can stop the rest of your friends. If you value your eyes I suggest you start telling me everything there is to know about your group such as numbers and if any of them are mages." he stated as his flames got bigger while he started to walk towards the man now backed up against a tree.

"There's only twenty of us." replied Larry in a frightened tone.

"Larry I swear to god that if you tell him another bloody thing I'll kill you myself!" shouted Steve as he tried to get up but could only screamed out in pain because of his shattered knee cap. And when he looked back up Natsu was standing in front of him with a deadly glare.

"Now Larry, I really don't think you should take the advice of someone that is planning to kill you." he said as he picked Steve up by the throat and held him against a tree.

"Larry I'm not AAAAAAHHHHH!" started Steve that turned into a pain filled scream as Natsu put two flame covered fingers over his eyes. Causing the other two people present to keep watching in horror due to being too stunned to do anything else.

"I think that should prevent you from ever hurting anyone ever again, but if you keep talking I might just kill you because you're one of the worst kinds of people out there. Oh and now Larry you have nothing to fear from him anymore, although I am a completely different story since I really do hate Slavers which you just so happen to be." said the dragon slayer as he drop the still screaming slaver to the ground and started to walk back to terrified one.

"None of them are mages and most of them use swords with a few guns as well." replied Larry as he visibly started to shake in fear as Natsu got to within five feet of him.

"What is their skill level with these swords and guns?" he asked while putting his flame covered hand to the right side of Larry's face and that slowly started to burn through the tree.

"They're at our level maybe a little better, please…" answered Larry only for him to fall unconscious to the ground in a heap thanks to a quick punch from Natsu.

"Did you just kill him?" asked the lady in a terrified voice as she still tried to process what just happened.

"No he's just knocked out and will probably be that way for a few hours. I would say return home but that's where you were just running away from so you can either stick with me or stay here and I'll send someone to get you when I'm done with the rest of them." he replied as he started to head towards the direction of the town.

The woman watched him start leaving; now weighing her options as to what she should do in this situation. With one hesitant look around and realizing what would have happened to her if he wasn't there she decided to stick with the stranger that just took out two slavers as if it was nothing to him. But she kept a little space in between the two of them just to be on the safe side since he was able to shoot fire off of himself that could disintegrate weapons by a simple touch.

 **At the village:**

"I don't know who you are girl but messing with us was a terrible mistake." stated one of the five Slavers that now surrounded the woman that randomly showed up and had already taken out five of their men. She looked to be around seventeen years old and was wearing a white getup that looked somewhat like a uniform to them, but what really stood out to them was her wielding a sword still in its sheath.

"The name's Kagura and I can't sit by as you hurt innocent people and plan to sell them into slavery." she replied while glaring at them and trying to spot the weakest one to take out next.

"So you thought you'd play the hero and come in here and try to stop us?" he asked while taking another step towards her as did the other four slavers.

"I'm anything but a hero, which you should already know by now." she replied with a grin before darting to a Slaver to the back right of her. And before the man could even realize what was happening he felt a sharp pain rise in his neck as the rest watched him fall to the ground no longer moving. She then used it as a distraction to keep on running to a better location where they wouldn't be able to use their numbers to overwhelm her.

"After her you idiots!" shouted the head Slaver after watching all of it.

"Yes Sir!" shouted the four men that used to have Kagura surrounded.

"Shouldn't we just take what slaves we have right now and get out of here while we still can?" asked a thin man dressed in a baggy brown robe as he came up to the side of the head slaver.

"Not after seeing what she can do. A fighter like that would be worth more than all of the other slaves combined, you know how the fans love watching women fight in the arenas in Bosco. And she would instantly become a fan favorite that could go toe to toe with some of their best gladiators." he replied with a wicked grin.

"If you think she's that good then our men don't stand a chance against her." stated the thin man with a concerned look.

"That would be true if we didn't have numbers on the girl, because no matter how strong your opponent is you can still overpower them with sheer numbers. And if that doesn't work then I'll have to step in and unfortunately probably ruin that pretty little face of hers." he answered while starting to chuckle as he slowly went after his men as a few pain filled screams could be heard in the distance.

"Do you think that could have been our men?" asked the thin man as he followed after his boss.

"No it was probably just some of them dealing with a few of the villagers trying to fight back. They always think that they'll be able to save themselves if they work together but every time it just ends with a few of them dying. After which we don't have to deal with any more resistance." he replied with a smug look as they headed down the alley.

"This should do the trick." Kagura thought as she skidded to a halt in an alleyway that she was just able to swing her sword properly and no more. It was the ideal spot for her to make a stand against the slavers and have an actual chance of surviving.

"Where'd that bitch go?" shouted one of the slavers.

"Start checking the alleys!" shouted another as they started their search for her.

"She's down here." replied the first slaver to find her.

"So are you brave enough to face me alone, or do you need one of your friends to hold your hand?" she taunted him, causing the man to charge her in pure rage. He slashed at her head, only for Kagura to drop lower and sweep out his legs with a quick swipe of her sword. That she then used to help him hit the ground harder than he would have before, knocking the wind straight out of him. But she knew that wasn't enough at all to keep him down, so she delivered a devastating strike to his head before the man had time to do anything else.

"Shit!" said a slaver at the end of the alley that got to watch her effortlessly take his friend down in less than ten seconds.

"What the hell happened?" asked another as he came to the side of him.

"She just took him down like it was nothing." said the first slaver with a terrified look on his face.

"It was nothing for me, I don't think any of you should be holding swords since you all clearly don't appreciate or understand how to use them properly." she spat out at them.

"You two go around to flank her and we'll make sure she doesn't run through here." said the slaver that just showed up and was talking to other people that Kagura couldn't see. Honestly she was a little surprised that they were smart enough to do that right away, she was hoping to at least take out five more of them before this happened.

"I could just charge you two now." she stated as she continued to glare at them.

"You could, but you chose this spot because it takes away our number advantage. Also you don't know how many of us there are out here, waiting for you to do something just like that." he replied back with a smug grin.

"It seems that your group isn't just full of idiots like I originally thought." she stated and then flinched when a loud scream of pain could be heard coming from the distance.

"HA it seems that some of the boys are getting to have some fun with a few of the items that thought they could escape like that girl you saved earlier." he chuckled as a disgusted look came over Kagura's face.

"I'm going to enjoy taking you down." she hissed at him only for her to duck a slash at her head from behind. And do a quick stab backwards without looking that hit the man square in the chest causing him to drop his sword and be sent flying back out of the ally.

"Seems I wasn't able to distract you enough." he stated now with a disappointed look as she got back into a standing position as another slaver started to advance on her from behind. While a different one than the one she had been talking to started to advance on her from the front.

"An obvious tactic that I saw through right away." she replied as she inspected the two new slaver's that were slowly advancing on her. And just from their stance she could tell that they both were better than the rest and might have been sitting back just to get a good read on her skills.

"That it was, but you'd be surprised at how often those things work." he stated as another scream could be heard but this time from nowhere near as far away as the first one. This only caused him to smile more as Kagura on the other hand only got angrier at these despicable men.

"Come on you two let's get this started so I can wipe that disgusting smile off of his face." she stated as she now stood sideways in the alley so she could see both of her opponents. And without a word said to each other they both lunged at her with perfect coordination and shocking speeds.

Surprised by the skill that these two had she was instantly forced to be on the defense and was just barely able to keep up with their well-coordinated attacks. And anytime that she saw an opening the other one would be attacking her before she could make use of it, which infuriated her to no end.

"What did you say about wiping away this smile off of my face?" asked the slaver that she had been talking to. She knew that he was just trying to get under her skin so that her true opponents right now could possibly land a blow on her, so she remained quiet. As she continued to fight these two for another few minutes with none of them landing any blows on their opponent.

"How is this possible?" she asked as she twisted out of the way of a jab at her left side. Wanting her assailants to explain how they were so coordinated with all of their movements and attacks.

"You're not going to get a response out of those two." stated the slaver with a chuckle.

"Why not?" she asked as she got one of them to fall down but couldn't do any more than that to him because of the other one savagely attacking her.

"Because for the past four years that I've been with them they've never said a single word to anyone, they might both be mute. But that would be odd for twin brothers to both be mutes, all I know is that they seem to be able to communicate to each other completely fine without saying a word." he explained with a sly grin. Kagura was shocked to learn that the two she had been battling with for a while now were twin brothers, but considering that she could only see their eyes through their black cloth that was wrapped around their heads she couldn't have really known.

But as she did this unfortunately one of them landed a slash on her right calf causing her to scream out in pain as she fell to her knee. She was still able to hold the two of them off for now, as she cursed herself for getting distracted like that and allowing them to land such a decisive blow on her. And over the next few moments she realized that she was going to have to use her magic to finish this.

"Remember twins, we want her alive otherwise this will all be for nothing." said the head Slaver as he showed up next to the one that had been talking to Kagura. Both twins gave him a nod and then went back to attacking her but were in for an unexpected surprise.

 **"GRAVITY CHANGE 50 TIMES!"** she shouted as both of them staggered to their knees from the pressure. Then with a quick spin she hit both of them in their heads sending them into opposite walls in the alley where they crumpled into a pile and no longer moved.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked while looking at the head slaver.

"I'm going to be your new Master in a few minutes." he replied with a sinister grin.

"Like hell I will." she snarled as the man did a weird hand gesture causing her to raise an eyebrow questioningly. Only for her to hear a gunshot ring out through the village as a searing pain exploded in her left shoulder as she fell to her knees again and let out a another scream.

"Sorry lady but I don't feel like wasting any more time with you, and as you can see we've got you out gunned so put that sword of yours down and surrender peacefully. It would really be a shame to hurt you anymore than we have to." he stated with a smug look.

"I'd rather die than become a slave for you!" said Kagura through clenched teeth as she got back up.

"So be it, most fighters are hard to break at first." he replied while doing the hand signal again. Both of them waited for another shot to ring out but were greeted instead with a blood curdling scream from one of the roofs. As they looked to the source of the scream they saw two men standing in green flames with one of them still screaming out in pain while being held by his collar over the edge of the building. They all watched as the one holding the other man let him go and watched him fall to the ground, definitely breaking a few bones as the fire dissipated revealing a severely burned body.

"So you must be the man in charge." stated the figure on the roof still covered in green flames, which made it hard to identify anything about him.

"Who the fuck are you?" shouted the boss as the few men with him started to slowly take a few steps back.

"I'm the man that has taken care of all you filthy slavers and plan to finish off the last four any minute now." replied Natsu with a smirk as he jumped down from the roof and slowly started to walk towards them.

"Kill him!" he shouted but nothing happened. Causing him to turn on his men ready to rip into them for not listening to his order, but was shocked to see the look of pure terror on all of their faces.

"What's the matter with you idiots?" he asked in an angry tone as they continued to back away from him and more specifically the dragon slayer walking up behind him.

"They've just realized that all of those screams that you were hearing earlier were the rest of your group and that none of you stand a chance against me." said Natsu just ten feet away from the head slaver. Who rather than turning around tossed back two round objects that rolled to both sides of Natsu only to explode into two huge fireballs that almost got back to him.

Kagura could only watch in horror as the strange man that seemed to appear out of nowhere was consumed in the huge explosion. And she was just thinking that she was possibly going to get out of this in one piece with his help, but it seemed like her life was meant to just be full of hardships. She continued to look at the huge pillar of fire that their boss made with whatever he tossed back at the man now with a hopeless expression on her face.

"You sorry excuses for men were afraid of him, well guess what he's dead now!" screamed the boss as he glared at his men with contempt that they didn't listen to his commands just moments ago. He expected to instantly hear them start apologizing but instead their faces became even more terrified somehow as they looked past him as a weird sucking noise could be heard coming from directly behind him.

He decided to see what was terrifying them more than him right now, and was shocked by the sight that he saw. There in the middle of the flames was the stranger completely unharmed which wasn't even the strangest part. The thing that none of them expected to see was all of the flames slowly being sucked faster and faster into the man's mouth.

"Damn, that was actually really delicious for you to be able to produce from those weird things you threw at me." stated Natsu as he wiped his mouth to only grin at them sinisterly.

"What the hell are you?" asked the thin man in a robe.

"Just a wandering mage that feels like it's his job to rid the world of a few more slavers." he replied only for the boss to throw two more balls at him. But unlike last time Natsu decided to suck up the flames as soon as they were released, once again shocking all of the people watching him.

"I think I've heard of a mage that can consume fire, he's a member of Fairy Tail and is supposed to be one of their best mages and goes by the name Salamander." stated one of the slavers now wanting to be literally anywhere but there right now.

"So you've heard of me before, looks like I might need to leave Fiore all together if I want to not be recognized." stated Natsu as he rolled his head and shoulders.

"But I've never heard about him having green flames." said a different slaver.

"Oh these are new, and they allow me to burn anything I want." he replied while tossing a ball of fire at a metal sign. That soon fell over after the base of it was completely melted through in a few seconds.

"Shoot him!" shouted the boss as he drew his pistol. He planned on shooting Salamander before he could do anything else to his crew, but a sheering pain in his wrist caused him to drop his gun before he could even point it at the man. And to his horror the cause of that pain was none other than the man he planned to shoot, who somehow covered that short distance without him even noticing.

"If any of you even try to shoot someone again I'll burn you until you're nothing but a pile of ashes." growled Natsu as the head slaver started to scream out in pain. Probably causing none of the other men to hear his warning, but the message was pretty clear as they watched their boss be brought to his knees as his right hand was slowly burned until nothing was left of it.

"Oh dear god we surrender!" shouted one of the slavers as he dropped his weapons and got to his knees. Soon the other two did the exact same as him as they continued to watch their boss scream out in pain as he clutched at his stump that was instantly cauterized.

"You surrender? Please tell me how many times that made you go easier on the people you were capturing and selling off like cattle?" shouted Natsu as he kicked the man he just took a hand away from into one of the buildings while glaring at the other three.

"I would always be kind if they did that." stated one of the slavers only for all of them to watch as flaming kick connected with the side of his head and launched him into a nearby building. Where he fell to the ground and didn't make another move when his body finally came to rest.

"That's what happens to filth that thinks they can get away with lying directly to my face. So I ask again how many people did you spare if they surrendered." he said in a harsh tone as he glared at them. The slaver not in a robe was too terrified to say a word and actually passed out in fear causing Natsu to now look at the last remaining slaver if you exclude their boss that was still screaming out in pain.

But before he could answer Natsu went to the passed out slaver and smashed his face into the ground. A sure fire way of making it certain that the slaver wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon, and also showing the last one that he wasn't going to spare any of them from his punishment.

"That never made it any easier on any of them." mumbled the man as he looked at the ground in fear of what Salamander was going to do to him.

"Good to see that one of you has a brain, so I want to know absolutely everything there is to know about your group and any others like it that are roaming around Fiore. Oh and speak up just a little bit so I can hear you while I go check on the lady you were trying to capture when I showed up." said Natsu as he started to walk towards Kagura.

Kagura couldn't believe that she was saved by Salamander, the person she was actually looking for after hearing a rumor that he was somehow involved with the Tower of Heaven that he brother was supposedly taken to. What his involvement with all of that was unclear to her, but all of her other leads turned out to be nothing but dead ends that got her nowhere nearer to finding her brother. And to think that right after finding out that she should talk to him, he shows up and saves her life and the lives of all the villagers as well. While also being completely against slavery, which crossed out one of the possible ways he could have been connected to the tower. But before her mind could even come up with any more possibilities of how he could be connected to it a kind voice broke her out of thinking.

"Are you alright Miss?" he asked as he kneeled down beside her.

"I'm fine, but some of the villagers were already put into cages before I got here. So you should go help them get out of them first and make sure they're all fine." she said while wincing a little at the pain her shoulder was giving her.

"Don't worry about them, I need to help you out first." he replied with a warm grin.

"Don't worry about them, how can you say that?" she yelled while glaring at him angrily.

"Calm down, I should have probably just told you that I already let them out of those cages as soon as I saw them in there." he responded still with one of the warmest grins she's ever seen.

"Sorry, but are they all alright?" she asked unable to hide a pained expression from going over her face.

"They're all in better condition than you, here let me look at your wounds." he said while gently getting her to sit with her back against a wall.

"Do you have medical training?" she asked while he started to inspect the cut on her calf.

"None at all, why do you ask?" he answered while gently moving her leg to make sure that he could see the entire extent of the wound.

"You just seemed like you know what you're doing is all." she said with a slightly concerned face now wondering if she should trust him with helping her with her wounds.

"That's probably because I've been severely injured so many times before that I know most injuries you can get from fighting. And it looks like you'll need stitches on this cut since it went into you pretty deep." he said while gently putting her leg back down.

"Do you know how to do that because I don't think this village has a doctor?" she asked hopefully, since he did just admit to being injured quite often.

"Nope, if I get an injury like that I usually just seal it with my flames. But that leaves a scar, and is it okay if take a look at your other wound?" he asked now on her left side and just a foot away from her.

"Sure, I guess." she replied in a slightly nervous tone since he was already being nicer to her than any other man she's ever met before.

"Good, but if I'm going to be able to get a good look at it you'll need to remove the clothes around the wound." he said while looking at her with a serious expression.

"You want me to take my top off?" she asked while looking directly at him as he nodded his head in response while looking back at her with a concerned look. This was definitely something that she's never done before, but the look in her eyes told her that he was just concerned about her wellbeing right now. And that meant that she would have to take most of her clothes off so he could get a better look.

"Okay, but if you're only doing this to get a peek I will make you regret it Salamander." she stated while glaring at him. As his face then morphed into one of complete confusion and then slowly went to one of someone thinking really hard about something. And then it finally switched to one of complete embarrassment as he started to blush.

"I would never do something like that, and I only asked you to do that because I need to be able to see your gunshot wound better." he mumbled in a shy tone as he looked away from her. Seeing this drastic change in him caused her to let out a little giggle that she then tried to take back with her hands, which only caused her to hiss out in pain because of her wound.

"Easy now, you're still really hurt." said Natsu as he looked at her once again with a concerned look.

"I'll try, and judging by your recent actions I can see that was the last thought on your mind." she replied in a sweet tone that made Natsu grin at her. But he stopped when she tried to start taking her top off but started to hiss out in pain.

"Stop, it looks like that's hurting you too much. How about I just burn away the clothing around the wound, I mean they are pretty much completely ruined already?" he suggested and was shocked to see a terrified look come across her face.

"I've seen what your flames can do, I really don't think I want any of that near me." stated Kagura with a stern look sent his way.

"Don't worry, I promise they won't burn you. They only burn what I tell them to as long as I concentrate hard enough." he explained while making a small green flame appear at his finger tip.

"You can really do that?" she asked skeptically only for her mouth to drop wide open as he took the small flame and put it around a flower that was right next to them. And to her amazement it didn't get affected by the flames at all, which he proved by extinguishing the flame leaving the flower completely intact.

"Here, see for yourself." he said while picking the flower and then giving it to her.

"That's amazing, I've never seen a fire mage do anything like that." she stated while looking at the pink flower that was the exact same color as his hair, which she just took notice of and couldn't help but smile at.

"What's that smile for?" he asked as she started to slightly blush at some strange thoughts that quickly went through her mind.

"I just realized your hair is the same color as this flower." she stated while still smiling at him.

"Don't see many flowers colored salmon, so can I burn away the clothing around the wound so you don't have to undress in front of me." he asked once again having a slight blush and not looking at her directly. Which she was completely fine with since she couldn't help but smile at him calling his hair and the flower salmon when it was clearly pink.

"Okay, but please be careful." she replied and was slightly shocked when he went straight to work on it.

"So what in the world caused you to be here and then do something as foolish as to try and take on all of these slavers by yourself?" he asked while slowly burning away her clothing.

"I'm trying to find out where my brother is, unfortunately it only seems to keep leading to dead ends." she replied with a frown, deciding that she would wait to tell him that she was actually planning on going to see him at Magnolia after this.

"I know how that is, I've been trying to find my dad for the last seven years and have come up with absolutely nothing. But I won't stop looking for him and I don't think you should ever stop looking for your brother either, there's bound to be some sort of promising lead that will eventually let you find him." he replied with a confident grin as he didn't look away from his work.

"I've actually got a pretty good lead right now." she stated with a slight smile since her lead was right in front of her and he didn't even know it.

"That's great to hear, but that doesn't explain why you decided to take these guys on by yourself." he stated while gently getting her to sit up straight so he could work on her back wound, which he was glad to see because it meant that it was a clean shot.

"I could have never lived with myself if I saw what was happening here and did absolutely nothing to stop it." she stated as if it was the most obvious reason, but was surprised to hear Natsu start chuckling. This pissed her off and she was about to let him have it when he spoke up and instantly calmed her down right afterwards.

"I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one to think like that, which I guess is why I decided to do the same thing as you." he replied with a huge smile.

"Yeah but you weren't about to get yourself captured or killed." she replied in a sad voice with her head dropped in shame.

"Hey, don't think of this as a negative outcome. Try and think of it as a learning experience so that next time you won't make the same mistake. And trust me I've made so many mistakes already it's a miracle that I'm still alive, but each time I get back up and learn from them so I never make them again." he explained while letting her lean back against the wall.

"Are those some of the times when you got so knowledgeable about injuries?" she asked with a slight grin, wondering how he was able to get rid of her doubts with just a few choice words that he probably didn't even know they affected her so much.

"Yep, but I just glad that they happened to me and not my friends. By the way my real name is Natsu Dragneel since we apparently decided to skip the usual introductions and get straight to learning about each other." he stated with a grin that made her grin right back at him.

"Kagura Mikazuchi and it's a pleasure to meet you Natsu." she replied.

"Likewise, and it would seem that you were really lucky since it was a clean shot. I would just seal that up if it was me but I really don't care about having scars." he said while looking at the gunshot wound.

"Then do that to both of them." stated Kagura with a determined look.

"Didn't you just hear me say that will definitely leave a scar." he replied with a shocked look.

"I would prefer that to bleeding out, which I am positive is happening to me right now." she said with a little grin only for an angry expression to go over Natsu's face as he quickly turned away from her.

"Touch that gun of yours and I'll take your other hand!" shouted Natsu as he glared at the head slaver that was crawling towards his gun as quietly as he possibly could. But now after being caught he had a completely terrified look on his expression as Natsu slowly walked towards him and then bent down to pick up the pistol. And with a slight grin he engulfed it in his green flames and they all watched as it quickly dissolved into absolutely nothing.

"Do you still want me talking?" asked the thin man still standing in the same spot as before.

"No, I got caught up with talking to Kagura so you'll have to repeat all of that again once we're done. Are you fine with that?" he asked, even though the man knew it wasn't really a question and more of a command that he knew he had to follow. So he nodded his head and then let out a sigh of relief as Natsu walked back over to her.

"Are you sure about this Kagura?" he asked with a concerned look.

"Just get it over with Natsu; I don't care if I have a few scars either. They'll just become constant reminders of what I need to do to improve myself." she said in a rather commanding voice that reminded him of a certain red head at Fairy Tail. Kagura then had a slight smile spread across her lips as she saw him accept her decision, but she wasn't ready for him to all of a sudden seal both sides of her gunshot wound without any warning causing her to scream out in pain.

"Sorry, but it was better if you didn't know it was coming." he apologized as she glared at him with a murderous look in her eyes.

"Sure it was, but you aren't going to do that with my calf." she stated while still glaring at him.

"Okay, but this one is going to be a lot worse since I have to do it to a bigger wound." he replied with a little chuckle, and couldn't help but notice how similar she was to Erza already. They had only just met a few minutes ago and he could already tell that he was going to enjoy being around with her for however long that might be.

"I can deal with the pain, let's just get this over with so we can leave." she replied, not notice the little grin Natsu had at hearing her say we. Something he knew was most likely just a slip of the tongue but didn't care since he could really use a traveling companion for a little while at least.

"Here I go." he said before he set to work and got halfway through it before she made any noise indicating that she was in pain. And it was only a small hiss that escaped between her clenched teeth, which caused him to finish as fast as he could while still finishing it correctly.

"You're able to do that to yourself?" she asked after they sat in silence for a few moments.

"Yep, but I don't think it doesn't hurts me as much as it did you because of my fire resistance." he said while showing her a few scars on his chest and sides.

"That's still quite impressive, and I just realized something." she stated while looking around them.

"Thanks and what did you realize?" he asked while getting up and heading over to the head slaver.

"That we haven't seen or heard anything from any of the villagers, shouldn't they have come back by now?" she asked while still looking around.

"I told them to wait outside of the town until I got them. So what should we do with him?" he asked while pointing to the man now cowering in a corner in front of them.

"What would you do to him if it was just the two of you?" she asked while looking over at Natsu to try and read his facial expressions.

"I probably would have killed him." he stated with a stern look directed at the slaver. This response caught Kagura off guard since she knew that Fairy Tail was a guild that was rumored to have a rule against using lethal force no matter the circumstances.

"Wouldn't that get you in trouble with your guild Natsu?" she asked with a concerned look now spread across her face.

"That's actually the reason I'm no longer a member there anymore, on my last job it was either kill anyone who got in my way or watch my friends die. And I went with the obvious choice for me at least and saved my friends." he replied with a sad smile.

"Natsu I'm so sorry I didn't know." said Kagura as she felt sorry for him having to do that. But if she was put into a similar situation she knew that she would make the same choice as him, even if it did mean that she would no longer get to see her friends. At least that way they would still be out there and that would be enough for her to do it, which it also appeared to be the case for him as well.

"Its fine you couldn't have known Kagura, but now I'm just wondering why I could do it so easily. And also why I could do it again to this man if you can even call him that." he said with a confused face, clearly trying to figure out what he should do and why he was capable of such things.

"You could do that because it was your only option and you know just like I do that this world is a harsh place to live in. As for why you could do it again to this man is probably because you know that all he's ever done in his pitiful life is hurt others and that's all he'll ever do." she replied as she glared at the slaver.

"But does that make it right for us to kill him?" he asked turning to look at her with a questioning look.

"I don't think we should look at this as if there's a right or wrong answer because we rarely have things that clearly defined for us. We should look at all of the possible outcomes and then pick the one that we both will be okay with living with." she said with a confident look.

"So what would you be fine with doing?" he asked while turning back to the slaver.

"I wouldn't lose any sleep over getting rid of the man responsible for ruining so many other people's lives. Who was also probably the one to recruit all of these other men into becoming slavers as well." she replied with a look of hatred directed at the slaver.

"Wait just a minute, aren't you two supposed to be the good guys?" asked the slaver who was hoping that Kagura would tell Natsu to spare him.

"Kagura was correct about there not just being a right or wrong in life. The Council and what they've constantly tried to do to me and Fairy Tail has made that pretty clear to me since they are supposed to be the good guys. So no, we're not the good guys but that also doesn't make us the bad guys either. I think right now I'm somewhere in between them and is a person who feels that people like you should learn how it feels when others play by your own rules." stated Natsu as both of his first ignited with his green flames.

"B-b-but w-we d-don't have rules." stuttered the head slaver as Natsu stood above him.

"That's kinda the point I was trying to make." he replied as a look of horror crossed the man's face only for it to be removed as flaming fist smashed it into the ground making a sickening cracking sound. The last slaver couldn't believe that Salamander actually just did that, but from what he just heard he had already dirtied his hands before so doing it again to someone like his boss shouldn't have shocked him that much.

"Please don't kill me Salamander, I promise I'll tell you everything I know." begged the man now on his knees with his face on the ground.

"Then start talking and I'll let the villagers decided what to do with you." replied Natsu as he came up to the man.

"But they'll kill me." stated the man with a terrified look.

"And I won't?" he asked with a glare as both of his fist once again ignited in green flames.

"Okay, I'll take my chances with them." replied the last slaver, who then for the next two hours told Natsu and Kagura everything he knew about the slaving business which happened to be quite a lot. After doing that he was tied up and placed with the rest of his group who all had burns and broken bones, which let him know that he got off pretty easy.

"I don't know how we'll ever repay the two of you." said the chief of the village after everyone thanked the two mages for saving them like they did.

"You don't need to, we were both just happy to help." replied Natsu with his usual grin as Kagura nodded her head in agreement.

"At least let us resupply your provisions for the rest of your trip." suggested the chief with a hopeful look.

"Since that's the reason I came here in the first place why not." he replied causing most of the village to smile at him, finally allowing them to show their gratitude for what they did. So for the next two hours both of them were offered pretty much anything they could want out of the village while once again constantly being thanked for saving the village. Both mages only took what they needed and then set off out of the village together once again heading north in Natsu's case, which was actually where Kagura was coming from.

"So what are you going to do now Natsu?" she asked a little nervous since what she planned to ask of him was quite a lot in her opinion.

"I think I'm going to keep heading north until I get out of these mountains. After that I think I might heads towards Bosco and stop a few slavers while I head there and possibly do the same thing while I'm in the country. I think I need a new start where no one knows me by Salamander and I'll probably look for Igneel since I haven't looked for him in any other countries before." he replied with a positive tone and a slight grin.

"That sounds like a pretty dangerous thing to do by yourself." she stated with a concerned look directed at him which he didn't notice.

"Yeah it probably is, but hearing about everything that those slavers do to people just makes me sick. And now that I know about it I have to do something for at least a few of them, maybe even get it where they stop sending groups out into other countries to capture them." he said with a determined look in his eyes.

"W-would you mind having company and that is if you're absolutely sure that it wouldn't be a bother?" asked Kagura with a slight blush as she looked at her feet.

"If that's your way of asking to come along Kagura then I would love to have you join me, but aren't you looking for your brother? Didn't you have a good lead that might help you find him?" he asked while coming to a complete stop and giving her a caring look.

"I am and my lead is actually in this direction as well." she replied with a bright smile, repeating in her head that he said that he would love to have her join him.

"Is that so?" he asked with a skeptical look on his face.

"Yes it is, are you saying that I'm lying?" she asked now glaring at him.

"I said no such thing, but there are traces of your scent coming from this direction. And that can only mean that you came to the village from the north, so why on earth would you be going back the direction that you came from?" he asked, causing her to look at him with disbelief. She had heard that a dragon slayer's senses were good, but to be able to figure out all of that with a faint scent from a few hours ago made her realize that their senses were on a whole different level than the average human.

"Fine my lead is you." she replied in a defeated tone after letting out a sigh.

"I'm your lead?" he asked while pointing at himself with a confused look now being displayed on his features.

"I was told that you know about the Tower of Heaven, and that's supposedly where my brother was taken to." she said, but was surprised when Natsu's facial expression turned to one that looked both sad and angry at the same time.

"Yes I know about that place, but nothing good came from that horrible place and I'm glad that it was wiped off of the map." he replied not realizing that Kagura was now thinking that her brother probably died.

"Can you tell me about it, I need to know what happened and who you met while there?" she asked while trying to keep her emotions in check and only could do it because she still held out hope that Simon was still alive.

"We should probably find a place to camp for the night since this is going to take a while." he replied. He just got a nod from Kagura as they both then started to look for an ideal spot to spend the night as they continued to walk down the road. After a few more minutes of walking they found a spot and set up camp and started to cook off of a fire provided by the fire dragon slayer that Kagura could only describe as beautiful as the green flames danced around.

"So where should I begin?" asked Natsu getting her to stop daydreaming while watching his flames slowly cook their soup for dinner.

"The beginning would probably be the best." she replied with a small smile as she looked at him sitting across from her on the other side of the fire.

"Alright, we'll this stuff is actually what happened to a really good friend of mine when she was really young." he said as he told Kagura about what happened to Erza at the tower, telling her a surprising amount of information for someone that most people thought never listened. After that he then went into his own story of what transpired to bring him to that tower and then what eventually took place in it. Not noticing her reactions because he got caught up in telling her everything that he could so when he finished he was shocked to find her quietly crying to herself.

So he did the only thing that he could in a situation like this and went over to her and brought her into a hug. Telling her that he was there for her and that she should let it all out, still not knowing why she was even crying in the first place. But after doing this for a few minutes Kagura finally calmed down but made no moves to separate from their warm embrace.

"Thank you Natsu." she whispered still resting her head against his chest, soaking in the warmth that just flowed off of him.

"No problem, but what exactly are you thanking me for?" he asked back quietly.

"For being here for me, and also there for my brother as well." she replied with a choked sob now knowing what happened to him.

"That's what friends are for, but when did I help your brother?" he asked with a confused expression.

"My brother's name was Simon." she replied, and then felt his embrace on her tighten just a little bit more.

"I'm so sorry Kagura, if only I had been stronger than he wouldn't have died like that." said Natsu in a defeated tone realizing that one of his biggest regrets somehow got bigger after learning that it hurt Kagura.

"From what you just told me Natsu it's a miracle that you even survived at all." she replied while looking up to his sad face. Allowing her to see how much he really cared for her brother that he only knew for a few hours but was still beating himself up for not being able to save.

"Yeah but if I had only been just a little bit stronger than he would never have had to sacrifice himself like that." he stated while looking back into her own sad face that still had a few tears running down her cheeks.

"He died protecting those that he cared about, which is something that I believe both of us would do if it meant that the ones we were protecting could keep on living. And yes I know that you are supposed to keep on living for your friends like you told Erza that day, but just like what you had to do save them by killing those dark mages on your last job. My brother knew that taking that attack for the two of you was something that he was okay with as long as you two were both alright." she said as a few more tears fell from her eyes.

"Your brother was a true hero Kagura and everything good that I've done since then is all thanks to him and what he did for me that day. He's one of the reasons that I won't stop when things are completely against me and look utterly hopeless, because that's what he did so all I can try to do is the same." he replied with determined look as she thought she could see a green flame flicker in the back of his eye.

"Thanks Natsu and Simon would be proud of what you've accomplished after that. Not to mention saving his little sister from a life in the arenas earlier today." she replied with a sad smile.

"I'm just glad I came this way and was finally able to help him out with something like he did for me. So are you sure you want to keep traveling with me now that you know what happened to your brother?" he said now looking at her with an eyebrow raised questioningly.

"As long as you're still okay with that, and the only other thing I would want to do is get revenge on Jellal for what he did. But it sounds like you took care of that, which is another thing you did for me without even knowing." she replied while wiping away the last of her tears.

"Of course I still want you to come with me, but I didn't actually kill Jellal. And he's actually still alive; he even helped me save Fiore from becoming ruled by a dark guild. But before you get mad he was taken by the Council and thrown into jail for his previous crimes that he doesn't remember." stated Natsu in a caring voice that turned a little angry when mentioning that Jellal didn't remember what he did.

"I don't think I could ever really get mad at you, and I'm glad that he's at least paying for his crimes. But how in the world does he not remember and why does that upset you?" asked Kagura with a confused look.

"He has something called amnesia which means he doesn't remember some things. And I'm angry because he should have to live knowing what he did and how many people hurt for such a foolish goal. He should have to see the faces of every person he killed and try to make up for it in any way possible which will never be enough." he replied with a sad expression as the faces of all the people he killed quickly flashed before his eyes.

He knew that they were all terrible people that the world wasn't going to miss and would probably be better without. But he couldn't help but feel slightly bad that he had to kill some of them while they were just being controlled by their master and would have surrendered if they could have. The last two however didn't make him feel bad at all and only cemented in his mind that sometimes the best option was to eliminate them so they could never harm another soul again.

"Do you see their faces?" she asked in a concerned tone, picking up that detail from his reason why he's angry at Jellal.

"I do, but it doesn't really bother me since they were all terrible people who would have done the same to me if they could have." he replied.

"I think we both should get new outfits." she stated with a slight grin all of a sudden.

"What in the world brought that up?" he asked with little chuckle.

"I was tired of talking about sad things and decided to switch it over to the start of our new adventure together." she replied while adjusting herself in his arms so she was now on his lap with her back to his chest and his arms around her waist with her hands on top of his. Natsu didn't know how to take his new position of theirs, but it didn't feel bad to him and she obviously liked it so he decided to not question it.

"I like the sound of having adventures together, but why do I need a new outfit?" asked Natsu with a grin as he appreciated the change of topic.

"Good because that's exactly what we're going to do, and you said you want to lose the nickname of Salamander. And one of the best ways to do that is get a new look, not to mention that the things you're wearing right now look like they'll fall apart any second." she stated with a little giggle as she put her finger through a hole in his vest.

"Okay I see your point about that and while I'm at it maybe I should get a new weapon." he said in an excited tone.

"What weapon do you use?" she asked with a little excitement in her own voice.

"I don't usually use one, but why not learn one now?" he asked only for her to hit him lightly in the ribs.

"Learning how to use a weapon properly is the only way you should ever start using one. If you don't then it's more likely to be more of a hindrance to you than an advantage Natsu, so you should find someone to teach you if you really want to learn how to fight with a weapon." scolded Kagura, never to be one who would let someone else start learning something incorrectly. She especially thought that if that something was a weapon, which demanded a certain amount of respect if they wanted to be any good with it.

"Then why don't you teach me how to use a sword?" he asked with a bright smile.

"I could, but it would be difficult and take up a lot of our time. Also I don't tolerate any sort of laziness or imperfections when it comes to swordsmanship." she replied while looking at him with a serious look.

"Sounds like every other teacher I've had during my life so far. And if you want I could try and help you out with your magic, which I've been wondering why you didn't use right away when fighting those assholes earlier today." he replied with his usual grin.

"I'm not very good with it, and it takes a lot out of me." she replied while looking away in shame.

"Then it's settled, I'll teach you what I know about magic and you'll do the same for me but with swords." he declared as he leaned forward to grab the pot so they could both start eating. Both of them started to do while still staying in the same position with her on his lap, neither of them really wanting that to change.

"I think you should incorporate some green to your new look." said Kagura after a few scoops of soup.

"You think so, I've always kind of liked black and white." he replied after already having a full bowl, which he just drank out of since a spoon would've been too slow and awkward to do with her on his lap.

"Then why don't you chose one of those to be the base color for your next outfit." she suggested in between spoonful's of the soup.

"What do you think about white and green then?" he asked while getting another bowl for himself.

"You'd stick out if we ever had sneak around." she replied.

"Says the girl wearing all white." chuckled Natsu only for him to be hit in the ribs again in the exact same spot as before.

"I'm going to change too you know." she said in a slightly upset tone.

"Does that mean I get to help pick your new clothes out as well?" he asked in an excited tone.

"As long as I agree with it and you're not just trying to see me in some skimpy outfit." she declared while sending him a glare.

"I thought we already went over that, and if you don't want my help then you can pick it out yourself." he replied in a slightly upset tone.

"Sorry Natsu, I know you're not like that. It's just that most men are, so a girl needs to be careful about things like this." she explained quickly, not wanting Natsu to be upset with her.

"It's okay, and I'm sorry that you women have to deal with that stuff." he replied with a slight growl since he was raised to respect women. It was one of the few things that Igneel taught him that wasn't fighting related, and Erza made sure to beat that into him as well.

"I don't think it'll be a problem for me with you around." she stated while setting her bowl back down and getting into a comfy spot on him.

"You can count on that." he agreed while looking down at her watching her eyes slowly close and open a few times signaling that she was soon going to be falling asleep any second now.

"Thank you." she said quietly while closing her eyes with a small smile spread across her lip.

"Anytime Kagura." he whispered back as he put his arms around her again. And he was surprised when hers went on top of them, making sure that they were going to stay that way which caused Natsu to have his own smile spread across his lips as he too decided that he should get some rest.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter, which got longer than I originally intended but felt the need to wrap up things between Kagura and Natsu. So I would like to give a special shout out to Neah Walker 17 for helping me come up with the idea for this story, and would also like to thank all of you for giving me so much support on a story that was only just one chapter long. And it has almost already reached one thousand views in just three days, not to mention all the reviews and follows. So to sum it all up, you guys are the best and I hope that I'll be able to keep putting out more content that you all enjoy. Oh and feel free to leave a review or pm me and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	3. A New Life

Ch 3: A New Life

 **December 26th X784 at Tenrou Island during the S-Class exams:**

"Is this really how it's all going to end?" was the unanimous thought going through the mages of Fairy Tail as they looked up at Acnologia. Who didn't even have a scratch after all of them attacked him with some of their strongest moves in the misguided attempt to scare him off.

"He's just playing with us." stated Gildarts as he looked at the dragon now taking flight.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." replied Gajeel, feeling worse than the others since this is what his magic was given to him for. Yet trying with all of his might and with the help of two other dragon slayers, he still couldn't even make a scratch on the monster before them.

"What are we supposed to do?" asked Lucy now in tears as she looked at her friends who all had hopeless expressions on their faces. Seeing that all of them were actually losing hope was just too much for her, causing her to fall to her knees as she could only think that this would have somehow gone differently if Natsu was with them. But before she could dwell on that thought for very long she felt a small paw pat her shoulder gently, looking at the source was none other than Exceed of the man she was thinking about.

"All we needed to do is unite like the family that we are and everything will be alright. At least that's something that I think Natsu might say in a situation like this." he said with a big smile as he offered her a hand while floating next to her.

"Happy's right, we can't lose hope just yet. That's something that Natsu would never allow to happen right now if he was with us." said Erza loud enough for everyone to hear her.

"The Flame Brain would probably be still attacking him right now." stated Gray with a grin as the atmosphere slowly became better.

"That kid never stays down." said Laxus with a smirk as he remembered his last fight with the fire mage. Gajeel also couldn't help but grin as he remembered his first real fight with Salamander who seemed to defy all logic and not stay down when any other mage would have.

"He probably would have started to attack us for almost throwing in the towel like that." chuckled Gildarts as he remembered all of the times that he knocked the mage out with just one hit.

"Everyone who can used defensive magic should do so now." stated Erza as she looked up at Acnologia who was charging up a roar to unleash on them.

"It would be better if we all channeled our magic to just one person like Freed." shouted Levy, catching most of them off guard since she rarely raises her voice. But considering the circumstances that they were in it seemed appropriate for her to do so, and all of them could see that this had a better chance of working.

"Everyone hold hands." declared Mira already holding the hands of her two siblings. And within the next few seconds everyone was holding hands together and making a large circle now having slight smiles on all of their faces. Because even if this was their last moments at least it was with those that they considered their family.

Makarov couldn't have been prouder of his guild at this moment, because even in a situation like this they still remained united as a family. He also couldn't help but smile at the fact that even when he wasn't with them Natsu still somehow gave them the determination to not give up. Makarov wasn't the only one who had a thought like that going through his head right now, which is probably why most of them had those slight smiles on their faces.

One of the people thinking about him the most right now was Erza, who couldn't help but feel terrible since she once again wasn't strong enough to protect those that she cared about. So with her head down she let a few tears fall while whispering to herself. "Sorry Natsu but I don't think I can keep that promise to you."

"Don't worry Erza, he'll understand and then he'll probably do it for you." whispered Happy, after somehow hearing her previous statement. Erza couldn't believe that he heard her, but when she looked at the Exceed holding her hand she couldn't help but be reminded of Natsu since Happy's face had on a confident grin that the dragon slayer would always have before doing something reckless that would eventually turn out to for the best.

"You're right." she replied with a slight smile, knowing that Happy was correct. And if they didn't make it out of here she knew Natsu would look out for guild in their place.

"To Fairy Tail." shouted Makarov which was soon followed with everyone shouting it again together as Acnologia unleashed his roar at them. After the roar died down there was absolutely nothing left of the island that once stood so proudly out in the middle of the ocean.

 **With Natsu:**

All of a sudden Natsu felt as if he was stabbed in the heart, not just once but several times all at once. With one of them being so painful that he fell to his knees while clutching his chest with one hand as the other one gripped the handle of his sword so hard that it left an impression in it. But he couldn't dwell on this since an attack was coming straight at his head, only giving him enough time to roll to the side and flinging dirt up at his attacker.

"Smart move Natsu, most people would have been at your mercy with a move like that." stated Kagura as she grinned at him after taking down her arm that blocked the dirt flung at her.

"None of my tricks seem to help me against you." he replied now holding his sword with both hands in a defensive stance waiting for her to come at him.

"Not true, because without doing that little trick of yours the fight would have already been mine by now." she said as she looked at his stance and couldn't help but be proud of herself since it was almost perfect. And that was because in the past two weeks she took Natsu from a complete amateur with the sword and has already gotten him to the point where he is better than most people who use a sword. Granted that excluded most people who were formally trained, but it was still incredible since it would usually take at least a year for a normal person to get to this point.

But something she learned about Natsu real quickly was that he was anything but normal. His reflexes were better than hers, which is something that she has always prided herself in. Not only were all of his other senses sharper than hers but his stamina and strength were off the charts when compared to her, and she was by no means a weak person in any sense of the word. And the one thing that really caught her off guard was how serious he became while training with her and wouldn't stop until he got whatever she showed him down to the point that she was satisfied with it.

He seemed to also have a pretty firm grasp on how to fight against someone who has a weapon, but he was still learning how to do that with a weapon of his own. This did speed up that process and also allowed him to come up with tricks like the one he just did, or even just attack her back with a different part of his body while they locked their swords together. So to put it simply he was the best student she could have ever asked for since he was still able to push her to the point that she had to come up with new tactics of her own just to not let him get the upper hand.

"I just wish I could have attacked back." he stated while carefully watching each movement she made. Waiting until he saw the telltale signs of her launching an attack at him that he would have to come up with a counter for in a split second.

"So what happened there?" she asked while lowering her sword and giving him a concerned look.

"This isn't some sort of trick of yours you're trying to pull on me like last time?" asked Natsu while still staying in his defensive stance.

"I promise that this isn't a trick like last time Natsu, I'm honestly concerned since you've never faltered like that before. And you were even clutching at your chest as if you were in great pain." she stated still with a concerned look on her face.

"So concerned that you tried to use it to finish our duel." he scoffed back at her as he lowered his defenses.

"You would have done the same, so what's going on with you?" she asked as she slowly walked towards him. Taking in the sight of his well chiseled body that was ripped with muscles, but all of them were formed specifically to match his fighting style which was one of high movability and power. Not only that but one that was to always confront whatever stood in his way, which could be seen by the fact that his only scars were on the front of his body that was currently covered in sweat as he just stood there in a pair of black pants.

"True, and I don't know what it is but I have a feeling that something really bad happened to my friends. The only other time I felt something like this was when I thought my closest friend at the time died, which she didn't but we didn't learn of that until two years later." he replied with a frown, thinking about a certain red haired knight that promised to look after them for him. Now wondering if she was the cause for that one intense pain he felt, but he could only shake his head at that and started to remember who he was thinking of. A person that he had grown to rely on as the one to finish off any enemy that he might not have been able to take down by himself like he usually tried to do.

"We can still go back and check on them." stated Kagura seeing that he was really concerned about his friends right now.

"No it's fine, I'm confident that I was just imagining things. Besides they should be taking the S-Class exams right now. So all of Fairy Tail's strongest members are in one spot and nothing could bring them down." he replied with one of his confident grins. That was then turned to one of pain as the hilt of Kagura's sword was thrusted into his chest and sent him flying back.

"Good to hear Natsu, and you should know that you can never trust the words of your enemies." she replied with a smirk that was lost when a flaming kick was sent at her and caused her to slide back five feet.

"Oh I know that Kagura, more than you do considering who I've dealt with so far. But I thought since this was just a friendly duel I could let my guard down for just a second, turns out I was wrong about that." he said while attacking her viciously with his sword while every once in a while throwing in a flaming kick or punch that she usually dodged.

"I thought that this was just a sword duel." she said with a few grunts as she tried to hold off his assault on her.

"Didn't you just say to never trust the words of your enemy?" he asked right before kicking her in the chest and knocking the wind out of her as she hit a tree. As she tried to get back up she felt a blade pressed against her neck that caused her to let out a depressed sigh as she no longer tried to get back up.

"You won this one, even if you cheated." she said with a slight pout as the blade was removed from her throat.

"Says the person that cheated first." he stated with a little chuckle as he sat down next to her.

"Good point, next time I do that I'll make sure you don't get a chance to get back up. And we really need to find you a sword that can handle your power, what number is that one now that you've reduced to the point of just being a piece of scrap metal?" she asked him with a little smirk.

"It's number ten, and I'm honestly trying to be as gentle as possible." he replied with an embarrassed look now on his face as they both looked at the sword in his hand that had actual chips taking out of it. And it now looked like it would shatter if he swung it just a few more times.

"I know which is why we need to find you a sword that is strong enough to handle your own strength." she stated as she rested her head on his shoulder. Something that she kept finding herself doing whenever the opportunity presented itself, that somehow made her happier than almost anything else in the world could.

"Can't we just get another Archenemy?" he asked, and only received her trying to stifle her giggles at such an idea as a response from his partner.

"Sorry Natsu, but almost all swords are one of a kind. And that is one hundred percent the case when you're talking about swords that aren't just a simple piece of steel like Archenemy." she answered after her little fit of giggles stopped.

"Whatever, but constantly breaking swords is going to burn through my jewels." he stated with a slight frown.

"Now that you know you can't put your fire on your sword I'm positive you'll only break just one at most once each week." she replied with slight grin.

"I hope you're right, and have you ever left the country before?" he asked while resting his head on hers that was still on his shoulder.

"Nope, why are you just bringing this up now?" she asked him back.

"Because we're now just a day's walk away from crossing the border and I don't really know what to expect." he replied, once again trying to figure out why he felt that sudden stabbing pain in his chest all of a sudden.

"I'm guessing that we won't even notice when we're cross over into Bosco." she answered.

"You're probably right, well I'm going to go and clean up in the stream if you want to join me." he said while getting up much to the displeasure of his companion. Who now was really red at the thought of bathing with Natsu like he kept offering to do with her after long hours of training together.

"W-why do you keep asking me that?" she mumbled to herself, too embarrassed to actually say it directly to him.

"Because it would be more efficient if we cleaned up at the same time so we could get back to traveling sooner. Also you remind me a lot of Erza and she always said there was nothing wrong with good friends doing something like this so I thought you might think the same. But then again she might have been completely wrong about that since Lucy kicked me really hard in the face when I asked her the same thing one time on a job together." he stated while scratching the back of his head. Once again Kagura was reminded that Natsu of course wasn't trying to do anything funny by such a proposal like this and was only offering as a friend. Even if he didn't know that friends definitely didn't do things like this, but that is definitely Erza's fault which she might have to thank her for if they ever meet up in the near future.

"Okay, but I don't want to catch you staring at me." she replied in a nervous tone, honestly surprised that she agreed to it. But that could possibly be her just trying to make up for not being with him as long as some of the friends he's told her about, one person in particular had her really trying hard for some reason. And that was Erza Scarlet, one of the people he brought up the most whenever she asked him about his past and was constantly being told how similar they were. She would have taken this as a huge compliment to be compared to the famous Titania, but once again she didn't know why but she wanted to prove to him that she wasn't Erza and event strived to try and be better than her.

"You won't since Erza thought for some reason I might become a pervert when I was younger and beat me until I learned exactly what not to do." he replied as he walked to the stream that was only a few yards away from them.

"It seems she beat you up a lot." she stated with a little grin as she followed him.

"Yeah, but she only does it since she really cares about us. Well every time except for when her cake is destroyed, that's when she's just doing it because she's angry and needs to let off a little steam." he said as he reminisced about the few times he purposely destroyed her cake so that she would let out some of the stress that she would constantly bottle up with no intentions to ever let out.

"How does beating you up show that she cares?" asked Kagura as she turned around in slight embarrassment as Natsu was now just in his boxers.

"She's never really been good with her feelings which I guess is something that we both have in common. But that's probably because of what happened to her at the tower and not like me who just doesn't understand some of the more complicated feelings one can have. But back to Erza since you asked about her, she initially didn't want to let anyone get close to her probably afraid that they would betray her like he did." stated Natsu with a slight growl at the end that surprised Kagura.

"But slowly she started to warm up, but back to how her beating us up shows that she cares is actually quite simple. If she didn't care she wouldn't take the time to try and help us by correcting whatever we're doing wrong with a beating and would just continue on like she didn't see anything." he answered right before jumping into the stream. She was once again surprised by how he could analyze something like that and pick out the positives that most people would just see as someone taking their frustration out on their friends.

"You coming in?" he asked with his usual grin now with the water up to his waist.

"Yes, but I don't want you watching me undress." she replied while giving him a slight glare.

"Okay, just wanted to make sure that you didn't come here to just watch me because that would kind of be weird." he said with a little chuckle before falling back into the water and just floating there. And he stayed that way until he heard a splash meaning that Kagura had finally joined him, causing him to smile since most of the girls at Fairy Tail were quite confident about their body which wasn't the case for Kagura.

"Glad that you finally joined…" he started to say but was so surprised at what he saw that put him at a loss for words. Because across from him was Kagura now in nothing at all as she started to go about cleaning herself as if he wasn't there. That is until she finally noticed him staring at her completely frozen in his spot, which caused her to let out a cute scream as she tried to cover herself.

"You said you wouldn't stare!" she shouted at him now only having her head out of the water.

"Yeah, but I didn't think you were going to be nude!" he shouted back as he stood up showing that he was still in his boxers. This caused a whole plethora of emotions to go through Kagura's head, but the biggest one was embarrassment at letting him see her and not realize that he most likely thought she would be just in her underwear.

"But you can't clean yourself properly if you still have your underwear on." she declared, realizing that she wasn't completely in the wrong for making that assumption.

"True, I just didn't think you'd be comfortable with that right away. Sorry Kagura for not being more clear with what I said earlier, that's something I really need to work on." he replied with a slight frown, that she never really liked to see on him.

"It's okay Natsu, I should have just asked you to clarify my thoughts before making an assumption." she said while still remaining under water so he couldn't see her clearly.

"I made a false assumption as well so it's just as much my fault, now I feel bad because I said I wouldn't stare which is exactly what I did." he said still having his frown.

"There's a way you could make it up to me." she replied as her blush became even brighter while barely being able to talk to him.

"You name it Kagura, I'll do anything to make it up to you." he declared with a slight grin since he didn't want to lose his traveling companion just yet.

"You could just join me." she whispered while looking into the water wondering what in the world she was doing. This is the exact opposite of what she would have usually done in a situation like this; scratch that, up until two weeks ago she never would have been in a situation like this in the first place. But something about being around Natsu caused her to start acting differently than she once would have and overall he just made her happier than she had ever been since she lost her brother and the rest of her family.

"What do you mean, oh okay, that's easy enough to do." he replied with his usual grin as he took off his boxers without a second thought and threw them to where the rest of his pants were. Honestly he was completely comfortable in nothing at all, and the only reason that he actually started to wear clothes in the first place was because Igneel told him that is what humans did. Well that and he didn't want to be similar to Gray who was almost always just in just his boxers and unfortunately sometimes he didn't even have them.

"Does anything make you shy?" she asked after seeing how easy it was for him to just discard the last of his clothes.

"Nope, not really but if I had to choose something it would probably be starting a relationship with someone. Or when I have no idea what the group is talking about and it's supposed to be really important for the job. Otherwise I'd have to say that I don't really get shy since nothing really good comes from it." he answered while he went about getting rid of the dirt that accumulated during their training. This caused Kagura to start thinking about the last thing that he just said and came to the realization that he was correct about it, every time that she became shy about something it usually turned out worse for her.

"Is that why you always seem to just charge straight in without looking at a situation properly?" she asked with a slight smirk as she too started to clean herself again.

"One of the reasons I guess, but honestly I mainly did that because it was fun. But after what just happened to me I don't think I'll still be doing such a reckless strategy like that anymore." he replied with a serious expression making its way across his face.

"That's probably for the best and it's surprising that you're still alive after doing that for so long." she replied in a cheerful tone since she could already tell he was remembering the mages that he had to kill in order to just get to their Master that day.

"Hey, just because I would make a big entrance doesn't mean I didn't come up with a plan while I started fighting them." he stated in a defensive tone while giving her a slight glare that she just giggled at. And for the next half hour they chatted like they usually did while lounging about in the stream since they finished cleaning themselves within the first ten minutes. They only got out so that they could head into Bosco early next morning and figure out what their next move was going to be since right now they both agreed on wanting to try and do something about the slavers being unopposed.

"I still don't know why you think I need to wear all of this." stated Natsu as he started to put on the outfit that he and Kagura picked out in the last city they went through a few days ago. Starting from his feet which he used to only have sandals for he was now sporting a pair of black boots that almost went all the way to his knees. That had five straps that secured them to him with no chances of them ever falling off, the straps also allowed him to put a dagger or knife there if he wanted to which he didn't at this time.

His pants were no longer the baggy white ones that he constantly wore around and were now replaced by a pair of sleek gray ones that he tucked into his boots. They looked normal except for the slightly darker patch that covered the front side of his thighs, which upon closer inspection revealed to be a hard piece of leather stitched inside of the pants to add more protection. And holding these pants in place was a black leather belt that came with six small pouches that he wore with three on each side since he chose to carry his sword on his back because that was where most people carried an Odachi due to its size. The belt buckle was deep green that matched his fire and was actually the main reason Kagura picked it out for him, other than that it was just a normal belt.

All of this Natsu easily adapted to, but what he now wore over his chest felt like it was just too much when compared to him only wearing a vest before. First was a plain white undershirt that was then covered by a custom made leather tunic that had three pieces on the front and back so that he could maintain all of his movement that he had before while just in a vest. It was a plain gray that even Natsu had to admit was incredibly durable for how light it was, which meant that as long as he didn't take a direct hit from most weapons he wouldn't even get a scratch thanks to it.

Over top of that he had another undershirt that actually made it hard to notice the armor underneath it. But that was far from the last piece of clothing that he now had covering his chest, because right over top of that he now wore a long sleeved button up green dress shirt that once again was the same color as his flames. The next piece of his item was something that he was initially excited to pick out since he's always worn a vest, but once again Kagura decided that it needed to be leather one to add an extra layer of protection.

They both finally settled on a black one that almost looked like it had the same pattern of his scarf which made Natsu wonder if that was intentional or if they had to have it that way because of whatever creature they got the hide from. The only other thing that stood out about the vest was its collar and three buttons that made it look as if it was originally intended to be a piece of a fancy suit.

After that he also had a black leather jacket that just barely went past his waist and otherwise was very simplistic. That is if you disregarded the fact that it had hidden shoulder pads inside of it made out of black steel which is as strong as normal steel even with it being half as thick. Making it the choice of most people when they wanted to try and keep their weight down on a new set of armor, other than that it only had two side pockets for you to stick your hands into while walking around.

Natsu thought that this was going to be the last piece of his new outfit but boy was he wrong. The next thing that he would put on was a pair of black fingerless gauntlets that he wore overtop of his jacket. On the forearms of them they had a large plate of black steel, specifically designed to fully block an incoming attack from a normal weapon with no fears of it breaking. Now the finally piece of his outfit was by far the most elaborate of everything else and was one of most unique coats he's ever seen.

It was another piece of his new outfit made out of black leather that went to just a foot from dragging on the ground that had a back slit on it that went up to six inches below his waist to make sure he could easily run in it. The lining of it was the same green as his shirt, which was also the accent color on everything else on it such as the buttons or the flaps covering the pockets. Or the elaborate design of flames that went around the bottom of the coat and at the ends of its sleeves, once again something that Kagura liked and he could care less about.

The collar of the coat when turned up would cover over half of his face and was able to hide the hood of the coat when he didn't want to wear it, which was only when he wasn't on a job or fighting someone. And just under the collar covering from the shoulders down to under his pecks was another piece of leather that wrapped around him that was in a really dark gray trimmed in green, which gave the coat a feel of having layers. Over all the coat felt like it was too fancy for him to most likely ruin in a fight that was bound to happen in the near future, but just one look at Kagura's happy face was all he needed to be convinced that he should wear it.

"Because it'll obviously help protect you from getting wounded like you normally would have." replied Kagura with a slight grin as she put on her coat. She too decided to change her outfit like she said she would and it was pretty much the female version of what he was wearing, which might have been the reason that she wanted him to wear that so they could pretty much almost match each other exactly. Of course there were a few differences like her not having a vest, or the tunic; both of them were replaced with a black corset that she wore over top of her two shirts. Natsu couldn't help but take notice how the corset made her already large bust look even bigger which was definitely not needed in his opinion, but he knew he didn't really have a sense in fashion so he remained quiet on that.

Another difference was she didn't go with fingerless gauntlets like Natsu did with his and her boots have laces rather than the ones with straps that he wore. Her coat also was quite different than the one he now wore; this one actually had layers that were each a different color. The first and top layer that consisted of her upper chest and also included her arms was the same green as his fire. Underneath that layer was a dark gray that covered her stomach and went just a little under her waist, which stopped at the final black layer that went all the way down to just a foot off of the ground. The last thing that set the coat apart from his was that she didn't have a collar like his but instead had a cape that only covered the right half of her back sided. This cape was the same dark gray as the middle layer of her coat and was designed to be removed and replaced with a different one if she chose to do so later on.

"I've been completely fine without any of this so far, so why would I need this stuff now?" he asked after adjusting his coat that he still thought was overkill.

"That was while you were in Fiore Natsu, we're now heading into Bosco which is almost a lawless place if half of the things I've heard about it are true." she answered as she inspected him, thinking that he looked really good in it. And she was happy that she convinced him to not go with white like he initially wanted to by insisting that they might need to be stealthy every once and awhile. Not only that but wearing white clothing was really hard to keep clean in their line of work which was something that she learned the hard way.

"You're making it sound like we're going to get mugged as soon as we get there." he replied with a little chuckle.

"Natsu that could very well happen, none of this is stuff you should be joking about." she stated while giving him a slight glare.

"Come on Kagura, you don't need to be so serious all the time. Especially when it's just the two of us, besides if someone does try to mug us they'll learn real quickly that they just made one of their worst decisions ever." he declared with both of his hands covered in flames as he smashed a fist into the palm of the other hand.

"You're right, so let's get going then." she replied with a slight grin as they started to walk together after grabbing their bags.

"I really think that one of us should learn re-equip so we don't have to carry these things around." he suggested while shrugging the shoulder that his bag was slung over.

"That's definitely on you since you're the experienced mage out of the two of us." she stated with a smirk. Because over the last two weeks she learned that even though Natsu wasn't the smartest person about a lot of things, magic wasn't one of them. He seemed to have a very deep understanding of it and had already explained to her why she was having such a hard time with her magic. She could already use her magic ten times longer than she had before, and despite Natsu denying that he had anything to do with it she knew that it was all thanks to him.

"I guess it won't hurt for me to look into it, and you're already becoming a formidable mage after receiving a few pointers." he said as they came out of the woods that they were in. That now allowed them to have a good view of the country off in the distance that they were hoping to have a huge impact on in the near future.

"It's a pretty view." Kagura said as she looked over the vista.

"That it is, well you've treated me well Fiore but we've got the rest of the world to explore." he said in a cheery tone as he headed down the hill with a confident grin spread across his face.

 **One week later:**

"Why are you doing this?" asked a man with a long cut running down his cheek as he backed into a wagon that was fitted with a large cage. As he clutched at the cut with one hand hoping to stop the bleeding but having no such luck as he looked at the two figures in front of him. Both of them wearing coats with hoods up so that no one could see either of their faces, even though that didn't matter when both of them had very distinct things that set them apart from everyone else. The woman was wielding her sword while still in its sheath while the man had green flames that could go right through metal when he wanted them to.

"For the same reason that you are selling people as slaves in this fucking shit hole of a country." growled the man as he spun around and smashed the face of the man trying to sneak up on him into the ground so hard that he made cracks form around the spot of the impact.

"And what reason is that?" asked the man not seeing how them all of a sudden attacking his group had anything to do with them being slavers.

"Because we can." replied the woman as she did a quick slash with her sword and the few conscious slavers watched in disbelief as their boss's head fell from his head. Along with the cage that was behind him as its top slid off to the side thanks to all of its bars being cut clean through.

"You are all no longer slavers and will find a different job that doesn't prey on the weak or so help me I will hunt each and every one of you down and burn the flesh right off you." said the man as green flames coated both of his clenched fists as he glared at all of them. Even though they couldn't see that detail they all clearly got the message as they gulped and nodded their heads together.

"Now hand over all your jewels and anything worth any value." shouted the woman with the sword causing all of them to do as she commanded them to.

"Get the hell out of here before we decided to finish you all off right now, oh and if you run into any of your old friends that are slavers be sure to tell them that we're coming for them." said the figure as he threw some of his fire at them to speed up the process of them leaving.

"Who are you two?" asked one of the slavers as he looked back at the two strangers who destroyed a group of thirty slavers as if it was nothing.

"Two individuals who hate your kind enough to finally start doing something about it." said the female as she turned away from him and headed towards the people that were just saved from a life of slavery.

"That's obvious, but what exactly do people call you?" he asked, internally cursing his curious nature that just had to know.

"Don't really have one, and you really shouldn't care because if we do ever meet again it will most likely end with you buried in the dirt." said the fire mage with the green flames as he launched a ball of fire only a foot to the side of the slavers head. Who then let out a girly scream before running away as he clutched the side of his face that felt like it was on fire.

"It's okay everyone you have nothing to fear." said the swordswoman as she approached the terrified group of people that watched the two of them tear through the slavers with no mercy.

"Why are you honestly doing any of this, are you only freeing us from them to be sold off by you?" asked a man that stood in front of the rest in a protective manner.

"We're only doing this because slavery is wrong." she replied with a slight frown since the last group that they saved thought the exact same thing. It just showed her and her companion how awful this country was that the people being freed from slavery only thought that they were just being captured by other slavers.

"It's the truth, and as a show of proof any of you can go now if you want. But if you do make sure that you grab enough supplies from the things that the slavers left." stated the fire mage as he removed his hood and showed all of them his pink hair and caring smile. Somehow just by seeing those two things most of the people felt a wave of relief wash over them knowing that he was completely honest about his intentions.

"We'd be just walking straight into the hands of another slaver or guard considering that we're all marked as slaves." pointed out one of the people that still didn't trust the two strangers that are claiming to only want to help them. As she showed off her right wrist that had a freshly branded symbol on it that let all the citizens of Bosco know she was a slave.

"True, which is why I would recommend that you all stick with us until we get you out of the country." stated Natsu still having that caring smile of his, which still surprised most of them after watching him fighting like a demon just a few moments ago.

"And how in the world do you two plan on doing that?" she asked as she glared at the two of them.

"By the same way that we freed all of you, destroy anything that tries to stop us. It also doesn't hurt that my companion can detect people from a mile away on a bad day, so with that we should most likely be able to sneak you into Fiore which is the closest country that doesn't have slavery." replied Kagura as she too removed her hood since Natsu already decided to show himself. And he was someone that you'd never forget just because of his hair alone, that most people believed only women ever had.

"That still doesn't explain why either of you two are doing any of this. None of us can pay you and probably won't be able to for a really long time." stated an older gentleman as he came to the front of the group.

"Damn, never thought that the hardest part of helping people in Bosco would be getting them to believe that we have no other motives than just doing what's right." stated Natsu with a smirk.

"Sorry Sir, but that is something almost unheard of in this country." said a different woman that had a slight blush as she looked at her male savior.

"We're quickly learning that, but we need to get moving while no one is trying to hunt us down yet." stated Kagura as she gave the woman a slight glare.

"She's got a point there, so let's move out everyone and depending on how motivated you all are we should be able to get you to Fiore by tomorrow night. After that you'll all be on your own, hopefully there'll be enough jewels for all of you get as far away from this terrible place as possible." said Natsu as he grabbed one of the largest packs left behind by the slavers and took the lead with the rest forming a line behind him.

 **Later that night:**

"They were pretty determined to make it as far as they could today." stated Kagura as she sat down next to Natsu.

"Can't really blame them when freedom and a better life is just a few miles away." he replied as he looked at the group of about thirty men and women that also included an additional ten children of varying ages.

"I just hope that none of them will have to experience anything like this ever again." she stated while resting her head on his shoulder.

"Me too, but I really wish you wouldn't have killed him." he said with a slight frown.

"We've already been over this Natsu, there's no way I'm just going to let you do all of the killing of those terrible people. Even though we agreed it's for the greater good, it doesn't make it any easier taking away someone's life. And because of that we'll share the burden together." she replied while taking his left hand and holding onto it with both of hers.

"You're not going to back down on this one are you?" he asked her with a slight grin.

"Not on your life, which is going to be a long one with just you and me together helping those in need." she said only to realize how that sounded after it had already escaped her mouth. And because of that she was now completely red in the face nervously waiting for his response to such a bold statement in her opinion.

"I like the sound of that, the two of us being together for a long time helping out people like we just did today." he responded not noticing that her blush from before remained the same after his reply. The only difference in her expression was her lips were now turned up into a bright smile that was rarely seen on her by anyone else but him.

"You do?" she asked, thinking that what she just heard might be her just having a really good dream that she wouldn't want to wake up from.

"Of course I do Kagura, you've already taught me so much about swords and how to evaluate situations better than I've ever done before. Not to mention that I just enjoy talking and being with you like we're doing right now." he answered while resting his head against hers. Right now Kagura could very well be the happiest woman in the world, granted she still didn't know if he liked her in the same way that she liked him. But this was definitely a really good start in her opinion and she was going to make sure that it progressed from here to much more in the near future.

"Thank you Natsu." she said in just a whisper as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the heat radiating from her partner.

"You're welcome, but what is that even for?" he asked not moving since he could tell she just found a comfy spot on him.

"Just for you being yourself." she stated with a content smile spread across her lips.

"Okay I guess, sometimes I …" he said only to stop as his nose picked up a few new scents coming their way. So without saying anything to Kagura he abruptly stood up and put his hood up while also grabbing his sword and slinging it over himself so it was now on his back.

"How many?" asked Kagura knowing that he would only act this way if enemies were heading their way.

"I can smell five of them, but the fifth one is very faint as if they're trying to cover it up." he stated as they started to run towards the enemies tracking them down. Most likely with the sole purpose of recapturing the people they just rescued from a life of slavery.

"Anything else?" she asked as they both lowered themselves as they entered the wheat fields that came up to the edges of the woods they were hiding in.

"They're all mages, so watch out." he replied just loud enough for her to hear as they continued on their fast pace towards the upcoming battle. They were trying to get far enough away from their group so that none of them would even realize that they were fighting off some more slavers coming after them.

"Hold up." said the last guy in the group of five men going towards the camp of runaway slaves a little less than a mile away.

"Why, we're just about to catch those slaves that thought they could actually get away from us." said the front most member of the group as he took off from the rest only to let out a scared scream as a burst of green flames shot into the air.

"Because it felt like a trap you idiot." stated the first man to talk.

"Where the hell are they boss?" asked a different guy as he now had a sword drawn which was covered with orange flames. All of them were now a little scared except for their boss who just had a slight smirk on his face as his men started to scan the wheat field for any movement.

"Isn't that the million jewel question." he replied with a light chuckle as another one of his men let out terrified scream after somehow being separated from the rest of the group.

"Shit, this isn't good boss." stated the other mage as water surround both of his fists that formed into gauntlets.

"No, this is to be expected when going up against a predator such as the one before us." he answered as a figure stood up a little ways away from them and started to walk towards them.

"There he is, let's show him why we're not to be taken lightly!" shouted the man with the sword as he and the water mage charged the figure that was just about twenty yards away from them. But just as they reached the halfway mark they both let out a startled yelp and disappeared into the wheat only for a new figure to stand up in the place of the two.

"I'm quite impressed by the coordination and skill you two used to dispose of my men." said the boss as the two figures drew nearer to him.

"I'm surprised you aren't running for the hills right now." said Natsu as he re-ignited both of his fists that gave off an eerie green glow in the night.

"And why would I do that when I have an opportunity to meet the two responsible for my last two shipments not arriving." he replied with a smug grin that then turned into a grin as a white sheath went straight through him.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Kagura as she backed away from the man slightly in shock of her sword meeting no resistance whatsoever.

"He's just a thought projection." stated Natsu as a grin made its way across his face.

"It seems you've run into someone who could do this already, darn I was wanting to mess with you two for a little bit." he said with a slight frown.

"Can he cast any spells?" she asked while never taking her eyes off of the man.

"Nope, but whoever this man is he's extremely strong to be able make a projection like that. If I hadn't run into one before I would have never noticed that he was one, I mean he even has a scent." answered Natsu while still grinning at man.

"I'm impressed that that you could even smell that since it's only faint, I take it that you have that ability because of your magic?" he asked now having a thoughtful look on his face.

"Yes I do, but I really don't feel like talking with you anymore." replied Natsu as he brought both of his hands together and shot a stream of fire at the man.

"Like that's going to do…" started the man until his projection just vanished into thin air.

"What did you just do Natsu?" asked Kagura with a shocked expression as he got rid of his flames before the whole field could catch on fire.

"I just overloaded his projection with my own magic, he probably didn't believe I would have enough magic of my own to do that. It'll make him realize that we're not two random mages who just got lucky these last two times." he responded as he started to walk towards the men that they just took out.

"Was that really a wise decision to let him know how much of a threat we actually are?" she asked him while thinking of all the ways that this could go wrong for them.

"I think it'll actually turn out better for us this way, if he's afraid of his teams being destroyed by us then he might group them up so they have a better chance to succeed at bringing them back. That would mean less groups out there capturing innocent people hopefully." he replied while bending down and burning something into the first man's arm. Once he let it go Kagura was shocked to see that he branded the man as a slave, there by sentencing him to a life of pain and suffering like the man probably did to so many others during his life.

"They could just capture more slaves with that many people together in one place. And you do realize that they will not be able to go back to their homes after you do that to them." she pointed out after Natsu branded the second one just like he did with the first one.

"They could start doing that, and if that's what happens then I really didn't change anything by showing off a little bit of my power back there. And of course I know that they won't be able to go back to slaving which I know is exactly what they would have done if we just left them here. The other option to stop them from doing that would be death or maiming them in some way, but I'd prefer to not do either of those unless I have to or I'm really pissed off." he said while branding the last two and then heading back to their camp.

"Aren't you concerned that they might attack us again once they wake back up?" she asked looking back at where they left them.

"Coming after us will be the last thing on their minds when they realize that they're now marked as slaves." he stated with a proud grin spread across his face.

"We'll see about that." she replied with a slight grin of her own.

 **The next day at a town just pass the boarder of Bosco and in Fiore:**

"We're seriously all in your debt and I don't know how we'll ever repay you two." said one of the women as the rest of the group boarded a train that was headed towards Crocus where they definitely wouldn't have to fear being hunted anymore.

"There's no need for that, just go and live your lives and maybe we'll run into each other again." replied Kagura with a kind smile.

"And if that does happen in the future then you treating us to a meal will be more than enough to repay us." stated Natsu with his usual grin that caused the woman to smile back at him.

"That would be the least that any of us could do for our saviors." she replied before the train blew its whistle signaling that it would be departing soon.

"You better hop on or you'll have to continue on your journey all alone." stated Kagura with a slight smirk.

"Well thanks again you two, I wish you'd tell us your names." she said while halfway through the door hoping that they would at least tell her their first names.

"Sorry Emily, but the less you know the better." replied Natsu with a smirk as he turned away with Kagura and started to walk away from the train station. Leaving behind a very confused Emily who didn't know how he knew her name since she also never introduced herself to them.

"How do you know my name?" she shouted out as the train started to creep forward.

"Let's just say I've got really good ears, and tell the rest that I wish them luck he replied while continuing to walk away.

"I will figure out who you two are one of these days!" she shouted out with a big grin as she waved at the duo walking out of the station.

"We might have been being a little too secretive with them, I mean just giving them our first names wouldn't have been too bad." stated Kagura with a cheery smile as she walked with him taking the lead.

"You're probably right, but I have a feeling that we're going to be making a lot of enemies in the future and if keeping my identity hidden protects the people we save then there's no reason not to do it. But I guess we could come up with new nicknames that won't give away our true identities." he said while starting to look around for something.

"What's wrong with using your old moniker?" she asked since it really fit him well considering that he pretty much was untouchable with fire.

"My old what?" he asked with a confused expression as he stopped and looked at her.

"Moniker is another word for nickname, and I don't see why you can't just keep using Salamander." she explained with a little smirk at his lack of a refined vocabulary.

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" he asked but only received a slight glare from her that caused him to let out a little chuckle and move on. "And the reason I don't want to use that moniker, is due to the fact that it's tied to Fairy Tail already and has a long list of enemies just wanting to take me down. So I think right now is as good as any time to pick out a new one." he said as his eyes lit up at the sight of a distant building that he then started to head towards.

"I can understand why you'd want to do that, but if you aren't going to go by your old one then what do you have in mind to go by now?" she asked as she picked up her pace to keep up with him.

"I have no clue, actually I don't even know how I got the Salamander moniker." he replied while emphasizing the last word, which resulted with him getting smacked in the side by the pommel of her sword. Of course she didn't do it very hard since she could tell that he was just trying to tease her about it as he gave her a quick grin before going into the building that they were now right outside of.

"So you're saying that you just got it and went with it?" she asked as she could tell that the building she was in was the post office of the town.

"Yep, and unless you can come up with a really cool one for me in the near future I'm going to do the same thing now." he said as he pulled out an envelope and headed to the person at the front desk.

"How may I help you Sir?" she asked in a bored tone as she took in his unusual outfit that matched the girl with him.

"Can you send this to Magnolia?" he asked her back while placing the envelope on the counter.

"If you don't care about how fast it gets there you could just put a few stamps on it and slip it into the slot outside at any of our different branches across the country. But if you want it to get there at a certain time then coming here was the correct decision so long as you have the jewels for it." she explained in the same tone as before while pointing to a sign that showed the prices for their standard shipping.

"Here you go, I'll go with the express delivery." he replied while giving her his usual grin and the correct amount of jewels. But rather than how most people react to seeing his grin, this lady just made a grunt while grabbing the envelope and jewels and then headed into the back.

"Is that a letter to your friends?" asked Kagura with a slightly surprised expression since she never saw him write a letter.

"Yep, there are actually two of them. One to the guild in general while the other one is for Happy since I still feel really bad about leaving him like I did." he said now with a slight frown as they went back into the town and started to head towards Bosco.

"There's a good reason that you did that Natsu, what we're doing is an extremely dangerous occupation." she said while grabbing his hand to let him know that she was there for him.

"I know that Kagura, it's the main reason that I don't plan on ever really telling any of them where I'm at since who knows who would come and try to find me. But as long as they're at Fairy Tail I know they'll be fine, also I've got you as my partner and that's more than enough for me." he replied while giving her hand a little squeeze and flashing her his toothy grin.

"I'm going to take that as a complement." she said with a slight blush as they continued to hold hands as they made their way outside of the town. And just as they got about a mile outside of town a bright flash occurred in front of them, only to reveal someone Natsu never would have expected to appear like this all of a sudden.

"Loke, what the hell are you doing here?" asked Natsu who couldn't believe that one of Lucy's spirits randomly appeared in front of him. But one of the most shocking things that he noticed was that the spirit appeared to have just recently gotten out of a battle if the bandages were any indication.

"I've come to give you something very valuable Natsu that should help you on your journey." answered Loke as he slipped off the Odachi strapped to his back. The handle was green with black leather straps wrapped around it making the grip a checkered green and black pattern, while the guard and pommel were both silver. Etched around the guard was an emblem for each of the twelve Zodiacs and the pommel looked as if stars were falling from the sky and going to meet at the center of it.

The sheath of this Odachi main color was black with all of the decorations being either green or silver. Wrapping around the sheath starting from the tip and ending at right under the guard was a green dragon that looked longer and more serpent like than Igneel ever did. And in the spots that the dragon didn't cover were once again the signs of the twelve Zodiacs in silver and just barely able to be noticed unless you inspected the sheath like Natsu was doing right now.

"Why in the world are you showing up now of all times to give me a sword?" asked Natsu as he took the weapon from the spirit who was also an old friend of his. He felt the weight of it and gave a few swings with it while it was still sheathed to get a feel for it, which somehow instantly felt right to him even with it still sheathed.

"Because the Spirit King told me to, and it also doesn't hurt that you're actually being taught how to use it now." said Loke with a smirk as he started to check Kagura out and couldn't help but be impressed with how Natsu somehow kept finding women like her and Lucy by pure dumb luck. He would have continued to check the woman out if his instincts hadn't told him to run for it as a low growl came from the dragon slayer in front of him now giving him a very intimidating glare.

"Why would he want to give me something valuable since I usually just destroy things? Also what in the world happened to you, and more importantly are Lucy and the rest okay?" he asked with a concerned look in his eyes, knowing that he didn't have to warn the spirit about Kagura being off limits after the face he saw him make just a few seconds ago.

"The Spirit King along with the rest of Lucy's spirits have always admired your drive and commitment to your friends. And we're proud that you consider all of us that as well, which is why the Spirit King decided to give you this sword as a way of saying thank you for what you've done for Lucy and the rest of us." answered the spirit with a proud smile since he was lucky enough to be friends with the dragon slayer for a long time now.

"Thanks Loke, and of course you're all my friends. Just say the word and I'd be more than happy to help any of you with whatever problem you might be having." he declared with smirk.

"We know, just another reason why the sword is being given to you. And as you could probably already tell that sword isn't like any of the other ones you've been destroying during your training. So first of no Natsu it can't shoot off any sort of spirit attack like I know you're hoping for it to do, but it is by far one of the strongest and sharpest blades you'll ever find. Something that you'll definitely appreciate since you've never been good at holding back." explained Loke as he let out a little chuckle at the end.

"Rats that would have been so cool, and hey I have been great at holding back. If I wasn't then nothing would be standing after I got done fighting whoever tried to stop me from completing my job." he stated while giving his old friend a slight glare.

"If what you just said is true then this is a sword made with you in mind Natsu. And the reason I say that is because if you do happen to break the blade while using it, then all you need to do is put it back into the sheath and a few hours later it will be as good as new." said Loke with a huge smile spread across his face.

"You've gotta be kidding me, a sword like that actually exists!" shouted out Kagura as she looked at the sword in Natsu's hands.

"Yep, and your boyfriend is now the proud owner of it." replied Loke, enjoying how quickly Kagura's face turned red at such a simple tease. Letting him know that she had already fallen head over heels for the dragon slayer standing next to them, apparently too deep in thought to even hear what was just said.

"He's not my boyfriend." mumbled a now completely embarrassed Kagura as she tried to make sure that Natsu didn't notice her blush.

"Maybe not now, but I can already tell that you want him to be." teased the spirit as Natsu finally unsheathed the blade. Showing off the completely white blade of the sword, well everything except for the thin green line that followed the waves on the sides of the blade.

"Shut up, and no I don't." denied Kagura in hiss as she glared at the spirit, but before Loke could continue to tease her Natsu spoke up.

"Why are the main colors black and green?" he asked while sheathing the blade and replacing his old one with it.

"I guess that's the other special thing about the blade, it can change its colors to match its master's magic. That's why there is green on it now, as for the black that as far as I know has always been its main color. Well since I've done what I was told to do I think I'll be heading back so you two love birds can have some alone time again." he said with a smug look as Kagura started to blush again and decided to put her hood back up to hide it.

"Wait one second Loke, you never told me how Lucy and the rest are doing." said Natsu as he grabbed the spirit's shoulder before he could disappear.

"Sorry about that Natsu, as you can see we ran into some trouble with a dark guild during the S-Class exams. But don't worry, everyone's alright so why don't you take that beautiful lady of yours out to eat and make the night all about her." replied the spirit with a sly grin only to disappear as soon as Natsu let go of him.

"Don't listen to him Kagura, he used to be known as the playboy of Fairy Tail." he said while turning to see a now slightly sad Kagura looking back at him. And in that moment he realized he once again said something that was most definitely misinterpreted from what he meant it to be.

"Shit I didn't mean it like that Kagura, you're one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. Not to mention one of the strongest as well and that's coming from someone who grew up with Titania and the Demon of Fairy Tail." he hurriedly explained, not wanting her to be sad due to him and his big mouth.

"Do you mean it?" she asked once again having a blush spread across her cheeks.

"With every fiber in my body, so how about we take a break and go get something to eat even if the idea did come from that womanizer." he answered with a smirk as he grabbed her hand and started to head back to town before she could even reply.

"I'd like that a lot." she replied with a smile, making a note to thank the spirit the next time she saw him.

 **Spirit World:**

"Job well done." stated the Spirit King as Loke appeared in front of him.

"I feel sick having to lie to him like that." he replied with a frown.

"I know you do my friend, but it was necessary otherwise the boy would have charged straight back to the guild." replied the Spirit King with a somber expression now on his face.

"And why is that a bad thing, Fairy Tail could use Natsu right now since they believe the rest of the Tenrou Group are dead?" asked Loke in a louder voice than he intended to use.

"I couldn't agree with you more my friend, but doing what we just did now was the most that we can get involved with their affairs without one of them being a Celestial mage. As soon as there is another one out there with your key you're free to do as you please. But until that time comes we can only sit back from here on out and observe what happens in their realm." explained the Spirit King as he looked at Loke with a stern look.

"He has the right to know, and if he doesn't find out before they leave Fiore then who knows when he will. Not to mention how upset he'll be with me for lying to him." stated Loke as he looked down at his feet, now wishing that he had told the dragon slayer the truth rather than following orders.

"I know it's hard to not help your friends my old friend, but it's out of our hands now and giving him that sword is the best that we could do. Also don't beat yourself up since you actually didn't lie about them being fine, it'll only take some time for him to realize that as well and he'll forgive you right away when he finds that out." said the Spirit King with a slight grin.

"I know, but what he goes through until that time is what I don't want him to feel since he's already experienced more loss than someone ever should." replied Loke as he decided it was time for him to go back to his place.

"But this time he'll have her at his side." pointed out the Spirit King with a bigger grin as Loke let out a few chuckles before he was gone.

"Natsu Dragneel, you've a long and hard road ahead of you. But you're one of the few humans that I know who will be able to persevere through it all and come out stronger than anyone could possibly imagine." thought the Spirit King as he watched an image of Natsu dragging Kagura to a restaurant, both of them with smiles on their faces. Not knowing that in just a few months how hard it would be for both of them to be that happy again. But the Spirit King knew that given some more time that they would both be able to be this happy again and maybe even happier if things played out as he thought they would.

"Protect her like you've protected Lucy and the rest of Fairy Tail." stated the Spirit King as the image of the two disappeared as he got up and left his throne room.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed it, if not tell me what I did wrong so I can hopefully improve my next chapter. So as you could probably tell this chapter's main purpose was to set up a few things that are going to happen later on in the story. A few of them will be addressed in the next chapter that I plan to have take place three years from now in the story. Also I've never been really good with coming up with names, so I would like to offer you all the chance to possibly have your suggestion become part of this story. Now the names that I am hoping one of you could come up with a really good ones for are the new monikers for Kagura and Natsu, and also his sword. And since I have a trouble with this I can understand if you don't have any, if so then I'll go with what I already have planned out for this story but I just wanted to see if there was something better out there. Well thanks once again for reading my story and also this note at the end, so like I always say here don't be shy and feel free to leave me a review or PM and I'll get back to you as fast as possible.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	4. A Legend Returns

Ch 4: A Legend Returns

 **March 12th X788 on the borders of Fiore and Bosco:**

"I can't believe we're finally free!" shouted a young boy as he started to celebrate with a few other kids his age. All of them just in rags and looking like they hadn't eaten a full meal in months, but that didn't matter to any of them as they now ran around in the country that they planned to call their new home.

"You two actually did it." stated a woman with a few clearly visible scars that she obtained from her time fighting in the arenas. She couldn't help but smile as the people she grew to consider her family over the last few years started to celebrate their new found freedom by rolling in the grass or just jumping around and hugging each other.

"We said that we would get all of you out of that place which is what we did and you fighting with us helped insure that no one else would get hurt." _stated Kagura as she stood to the right of the woman having filled out more in the last few years and was the definition of a gorgeous woman now_ _._ She was still wearing the same outfit as before but it now had a worn look to it thanks to the fading that happened over the past three years. She now had a fond smile on her face as she watched some of the people celebrate being free for the first time in their entire life. And seeing how happy they all were made all of the hard work that she and Natsu did to free them all worth it and then some.

"Some of the kids heard rumors about the two of you and started to hope that you'd come and save them. But I can honestly say I never imagined that The Viridian Death and Viper would actually come into the capital of Bosco and stage one of the biggest slave escapes in history." replied the lady as she shook her head at how crazy that night was over a month ago.

"Well Bellona, we both felt like we needed to make one last big run before we departed from Bosco for a while." stated Natsu as he came up to the two of them. His outfit was the same as before now having that worn look as well, but he did have one new addition which was a black eyepatch covering his right eye that now had a long scar going through it vertically.

"You're giving up on saving slaves in Bosco?" she asked with a shocked expression now on her face as she looked at the two of them.

"We never intended for this to be a full time thing for us, but that doesn't mean we won't still come back every now and again to make sure that the raiding doesn't start again. Besides we haven't just been saving slaves over the past three years, or even just staying in Bosco." he stated with a slight grin as a look of surprise came over the face of the ex-gladiator.

"What else have you two been up to?" she asked since the only thing that she heard about the two that saved her and over two hundred other slaves was that they liberated slaves wherever they went.

"We've taken down a few dark guilds and did other odd jobs in all of the countries surrounding Bosco. But we always made sure to destroy any savers that we met along the way." replied Kagura with a slight smile.

"It was a really good way to stop the slavers from sending out raiding parties into other countries. And honestly that is better than what the two of us could have ever hoped to accomplish in Bosco. You know that there is no way that the two of us could ever change a country to completely give up on using slaves if it's been happening there for centuries now." he stated with a slight frown.

"Yea but the two of you aren't alone anymore, you have that group that helped you out in the capital." she pointed out only to watch Natsu shake his head at her.

"That is a group of ex-slaves working in the shadows to help free others just like them from captivity. We just partnered with them to increase the odds of our mission being a success, also I don't think they would really be interested in taking orders from us." he explained with a small grin.

"But you're the Viridian Death, a mage hell bent on making Slavers get what they deserve for treating people like property." she stated with a hopeful expression on her face.

"I honestly don't know how that ever became my moniker, I mean my flames are green." he replied while forming a small ball of fire on his palm.

"Viridian for the last time is just a bluish green, which you have to admit your flames sometimes look like depending on what you're doing with them." stated Kagura with a smirk, finding it funny that he still couldn't admit that his hair was pink or that his flames were sometimes viridian.

"Okay Viper, but that still doesn't explain the death part." he responded while looking at her for an answer.

"Considering what I've seen you do since you saved us I think that it fits you quite well. I mean you almost burnt half of the capitol to the ground when you first showed up to free us, not to mention every group that came after us at least suffered a few fatal casualties before retreating." said Bellona as she recalled the images of him striking down anyone who stood in his way, or the images of him standing on the burning roof of a guard tower as the city was covered with his green flames that surprisingly didn't burn a single slave.

"Hey, they were all coming for my head so I can't help it if a few of them happened to die once I was through with them." he stated with a stern glare sent her way.

"She wasn't trying to make you sound like a bad person Viridian, she's just pointing out that your enemies are kind of justified in calling you that with your body count that is all on them for attacking us." explained Kagura as she squeezed his hand, knowing that he hated being called a murder or anything like that. And she knew that he would still try to not deal out fatal blows if he knew he could disable them without anyone else getting hurt because of it.

"Sorry, I just don't like being compared to murders that kill for no reason or just for the fun of it. And back to your comment that started this Bellona, we've never had that as our sole purpose of doing any of this. We just wanted to help others out however we could and in Bosco the ones needing the most help happened to be the slaves." he replied while giving Kagura's hand a gentle squeeze back, letting her know that he really appreciated it.

"Then who's going to help the slaves that are still being held captive?" she asked with a frown, not expecting for a conversation like this to take place at what should have been such a happy time for her.

"Like we said earlier we'll come back every once in a while to help out. Also there is that group of ex-slaves that seem to be doing a pretty good job at helping free other slaves." he stated with a grin.

"And I'm sure that they could use an experienced fighter in their ranks such as yourself Bellona." said Kagura with a grin of her own.

"It's probably one of the few things that I could do with my skills that would benefit others and have a positive effect on the country." she said now having a thoughtful expression on her face.

"I'm positive that there are plenty of other things that you're good at other than fighting. And even if fighting is the only thing you're good at I know for a matter of fact that you could find tons of ways to put it to good use other than freeing slaves with that group." said Natsu with his usual grin.

"Are you trying to convince me to not join that group?" asked Bellona with her left eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Not at all, I just want to make sure that you know that there are other options out there for you. So don't rush into one of them until you're sure that's what you actually want to do." he answered while looking off to the distance as a group of soldiers started coming towards them still not being noticed by anyone other than him.

"Thanks, so what do you think I should do?" she asked with a slight smile.

"Whatever makes you happy and if you don't know what that is then you should try and find out what does." he replied as he started to walk towards the front of the group. The whole time being thanked or hugged by the people that he and Kagura saved until he finally got to the front, which was also when the rest of the group finally saw the soldiers heading towards them.

"Oh dear god, we're going to be sent back there!" shouted out a scared man, causing the rest of the group to start panicking until Natsu shouted "QUIET!" which instantly got all of them to stop and stare at him. All waiting to see what he and Kagura would do about the new threat that was coming down on them, hoping that they would once again save them.

"No one is going to be sent back to Bosco, this is just your new escort for the rest of your journey into Fiore. The King of Fiore has openly opposed the slave trade for years now and is more than happy to welcome you into his country and has even went about finding jobs that should fit your current skills. All of this is of course optional, none of us what to force any of into something that you don't want, oh and he's also set up temporary housing for anyone that takes him up on his offer in Crocus." explained Natsu now with his hood back up so the soldiers couldn't see his face as they approached them.

"Are you serious?" asked one of the men from the crowd of ex-slaves.

"Absolutely, unfortunately you're going to have to make your decision in the next half hour. After that time Viper and I will be heading off on our own and those that decided to take the King up on his offer will be transported back to the capital." he answered with a smile since he could see a wave of relief wash over most of their faces. A sight that he and Kagura would have never seen from a group of freed slaves that they helped rescue during their first and second year of being in that awful country. But after earning his new moniker he no longer had to deal with the mistrust that they had dealt with each and every time they rescued a new group back then.

"What about those who choose to not go with them?" asked someone else from the middle of the crowd.

"They'll be able to do whatever they want as long as it's in accordance with the laws of Fiore." replied Kagura as she came up to Natsu's right side with her hood up as well. Both of them then turned away from the group and started to walk towards the incoming soldiers.

"Is it safe to assume you two are the famous mages going by Viridian and Viper?" asked a Rune Knight with glasses as he and the rest of his division came to the front of the group.

"Yes we are, but I didn't think the Council would be making an appearance at this gathering I set up with the King." stated Natsu as he let some of his magic out in the form of small green flames that started dancing across his body.

"The Council is a part of the King's kingdom and it wouldn't be wise to just let this many people enter the country without checking them out for any ill intentions." replied the man with glasses until he came to a halt thanks to Natsu laughing like he just heard the funniest thing ever.

"So the Council sees a large group of refugees as a possible threat against the country and magical world. But known slavers coming into the country for who knows how long with actual mages in their raiding parties doesn't warrant any sort of response?" asked Natsu after he stopped his laughing at how stupid all of this was.

"If you had let me finish I would have continued to say that thanks to the work of you two the Council and the Kingdom of Fiore are strengthening its borders. And with that comes the inspection of large groups such as yours, but more specifically the Council is more interested in you two." stated the man as he pushed up his glasses and was now staring back at Natsu with no traces of being upset at his laughter.

"Of course that is what they would be concerned about, it's the same old thing with them every time. Isn't that right whatever your name is? I mean the real criminals and scum of the wizarding world are free to go about their business as they please, but the ones that are actually helping out have to deal with the Council and worry about property damage." he scoffed while giving the Rune Knight an angry glare.

"It's Lahar, and judging by your tone and how you said that it would appear that you've dealt with the Council while in Fiore during your past." stated Lahar as he became more intrigued by this unknown fire mage.

"You could definitely say that Lahar, and if my memory serves me correctly you happened to be there during one of the times that the Council waited until other people did the work for them. Only to then go and punish some of the people who actually helped save the day." he said now with a grin as he recalled the Nirvana incident that happened a few years ago.

"Very interesting Viridian, because as far as I know I don't ever recall coming into contact with a fire mage that could use green flames during my time working for the Council. But I bet we both can agree that we shouldn't let whatever happened in the past possibly cause us problems in the present since we've both changed since the last time we apparently met." replied Lahar with his expressionless face still not changing at all during the conversation. Even though he was racking his brain trying to figure out who Viridian could be, and given the very specific example that he was given it really shouldn't have been that hard for him to figure out.

"More than you could possibly know Lahar, so what does the Council want with us?" he asked while gesturing to Kagura who was just a foot behind him.

"The Council mainly wants to know your intentions; such as are the two of you just passing through or do you two plan on joining a guild and becoming a permanent resident? And if half the rumors about you two are true they would love to offer you a position that suits your skills and power in the Council before you join a guild." answered Lahar with a slight smile.

"And what positions would those be exactly?" asked Kagura, who over her time with Natsu knew that the Council always has its own agenda.

"As I've said before if you two are as even half as strong as the rumors say you are then the Council would most likely offer you a position right under the Wizard Saints. And I'm guessing that within the next year one or both of you will be promoted to a Wizard Saint." asked the Rune Knight, thinking that there was no way anyone could pass up an offer like that.

"We'll pass on that, not that it isn't a tempting offer or anything. And we both are very honored to be even considered for the chance to earn a title like that, but unfortunately we don't plan to be tied down to anywhere for very long. So to answer your first question we will most likely be wandering around doing odd jobs and just helping whoever we can." replied Natsu with his usual grin that made Lahar feel like the two of them might have actually met before. Because that toothy grin he was receiving right now was so familiar but he couldn't just place where he's seen it before.

"You both know that offers like this don't come around every day?" he asked, once again having a blank expression on his face.

"Then I guess it wasn't meant to be since we have other things that we need to do while we're in Fiore. So is there anything else that we need to do before we head off into the country?" asked Kagura as she twirled her sword Archenemy in boredom.

"Since you two haven't done anything wrong then the only other thing we need to do is get a reading on your power level and what magic you have." he stated while pulling out a recording lacrima and a different one that measured magic pressure.

"Not going to happen." stated Natsu in a harsh tone as his magic started to seep out of him.

"Sorry but those are the rules for new people immigrating into the country." he replied as a few of his men started to point their weapons at the two hooded mages. Even though Lahar looked completely calm on the outside, internally he was freaking out at how much power Natsu was giving off knowing full well that this was only a small portion of what the mage could do. In that little outburst it would easily rank him at the level of an A-Class mage for sure, meaning that the Council was correct that he would be a good candidate for becoming a Wizard Saint.

"Then it's a good thing that we're both residents of Fiore and have only been gone for the past three years. But if you're still insistent on getting that information I'd be more than happy to show you and the rest of your men a very up close and personal demonstration of what I can do." threatened Natsu as he ignited both of his fists in his green flames.

"Are you actually going to attack representatives of the Council?" asked Lahar as most of his men took a step back from the fire mage that looked like he was itching for a fight.

"Of course I'm not Lahar, but if you're going to try and force honest citizens of Fiore into doing something that they don't have to. Then all I'm actually doing is beating the shit out of some corrupt Rune Knights who will learn very quickly that just because they're with the Council doesn't mean they're above the law." he stated while letting out a little more of his magic that actually caused the Rune Knights surrounding him to start sweating profusely.

"We are anything but corrupt Viridian, and no one would believe such a ridiculous accusation as that." responded Lahar as he glared at the man whose grin only grew at finally seeing some sort of reaction from him.

"I don't know, how about all of the other soldiers that are watching us right now. Oh and also all of the new citizens that will actually be working for the king as soon as they get settled in Crocus." he pointed out with a shit eating grin as Lahar and his men looked at everyone watching them.

"He's right Lahar, and the King would be very displeased with the Council if they couldn't do the one thing that they promised to do. Viridian and Viper were not to be harassed since all they've done is stop the raids into our country by slavers during the past three years. And now that we know that they're citizens of Fiore the King will only be more upset with any confrontation happening here despite whoever actually started it." stated the Captain of the few regimens of normal soldiers standing there.

"We don't know that they're actually citizens that could easily just be a lie." stated Lahar as he now glared at the Captain.

"Doesn't really matter if we are or aren't since either way we won't be divulging any of our secrets to you Lahar. But if I show you a little more of what I can do will that satisfy you so we can all go our separate ways?" Natsu asked with a little smirk that only Kagura noticed.

"It would be better than nothing." said Lahar as he shifted his slightly angry glare back to the fire mage.

"Then toss me that magic pressure reading device you have there." he said only to catch the small box being tossed at him. After giving it a good look over Natsu positioned it in his hand so that the display was facing Lahar and most of his men.

"All right Lahar here's what you can tell those old geezers when you return to them." he stated as he started to unleash his magic. Lahar and his men were astounded by the magic pressure coming off of Natsu as the numbers started to climb higher and higher. Easily passing the standard S-Class level for most guilds, but before it even started to slow down on its climb to whatever power Natsu was giving off. They all watched as it was reduced to nothing as his green flames took its place.

"No normal fire could have just done that to that device which was designed to withstand the magic pressure of all the Wizard Saints except for the top four." stated Lahar in disbelief as he looked at the hooded fire mage now with a fearful look in his eyes.

"My fire is anything but normal Lahar and during the last three years so far everything I've used it on has been reduced to nothing. As for what else Viper and I can do, that will remain a mystery to you and the Council for now at least since all you need to know is we're not here to cause problems. Oh and tell them that maybe later on that whole becoming a Wizard Saint thing might be something we're interested in." said Natsu as he turned away from Lahar and his men, heading back to the group of ex-slaves with a big smirk on his face. He wasn't the only one smirking right now, pretty much everyone but Lahar and his men had them on their faces as they looked at the terrified Rune Knights.

"One last thing Lahar, Viridian is very protective of his friends and anyone that he feels responsible for. And considering that all of the people behind us were rescued by him, it wouldn't be too farfetched if he hunted down anyone that didn't treat them in the highest regards and got to know them better." stated Kagura as she started to follow Natsu.

"Why are you saying this Viper?" asked Lahar with his look becoming even a little more terrified.

"Because you and your men still need to inspect them, and when we check in on them in a month he won't be happy to hear about anything bad happening to them. If it does happen then there is no place in the country that he won't be able to find the culprit at and give them the fitting punishment, well his definition of fitting punishment. And just so you all know you don't become known as the Viridian Death by being merciful." she replied without even glancing back at them.

Needless to say Lahar and his men were now all thinking that their inspection this time would set a new record in time with all of them being cleared to enter the country. But Lahar had a few other thoughts going around in his head right now that pertained to the identity of Viridian. He couldn't help but think of a pink haired mage from Fairy Tail that had no problems going against the Council, and that was especially the case when his friends were involved.

"No it can't be him; he died with the rest of them on Tenrou Island that fateful day. Not to mention that he didn't have green flames or was anywhere near the level that Viridian just demonstrated." mumbled Lahar to himself as he looked at the two mages now chatting away with a little group of the ex-slaves.

"What was that Commander?" asked his second in command.

"Nothing, I just couldn't help but notice the similarities between Viridian and a mage I knew who died three years ago." he replied while continuing to watch the two of them as they kept receiving hugs and other forms of goodbyes from the people that they rescued.

"Are you sure that he died all of those years ago?" asked the Rune Knight as he looked at Lahar with an intrigued expression on his face.

"I never actually saw him on the island before it was destroyed and considering that Fairy Tail never corrected the Council when we ruled that the Tenrou Group were dead, which included his name on the list as well seems like a good reason to think he's dead. But by far the biggest reason I know he's dead is the Council hasn't been complaining about the Salamander destroying things constantly." explained Lahar as a slight frown flashed across his face for just a brief second.

"You think Viridian is actually the Salamander of Fairy Tail?" he asked with a shocked look now on his face.

"I just told you why it couldn't be him, and besides Salamander didn't have green flames that could do what we just witnessed Viridian's do. But there are a whole lot of similarities between the two of them; maybe they were related to each other in some way? Doesn't really matter to us though as long as Viridian and Viper doesn't start causing the Council problems." replied Lahar as he shook his head.

"I guess you have a point there Commander, so what are your orders Sir?" he asked now waiting for a command as he stood in attention.

"Start doing the inspections to any of the people heading to the capital, but make sure to do it quickly and make sure that absolutely nothing goes wrong and everyone is happy afterwards." stated Lahar as he went to go give his report and inform the Council about what just took place.

 **With Natsu and Kagura:**

"So are you all sure you want to head back into Bosco?" asked Natsu with a concerned look that none of them could see thanks to his hood being up.

"What can I say Viridian, you two have inspired us to go and help out those that are going through what we went through." replied Bellona with a confident grin spread across her face. The same look could be seen on the seven other adults that were standing behind her, who had all come to the same decision as her during the past few minutes.

"We wish you all the best of luck, and hope to run into you in the near future." said Kagura as she gave Bellona a quick hug.

"We'll all probably have a few more scars by then, but I can guarantee that we'll still be fighting the good fight." she said after Kagura separated from her and gave her a little smirk.

"I bet you will, oh and this should help you with that. This communication lacrima can only contact the group of former slaves that helped us break all of you out back then." stated Natsu as he dropped some equipment and weapons in front of the group from his pocket dimension while tossing Bellona the communication Lacrima.

"Are sure it's okay to give us all of this?" she asked while looking at the communication lacrima in her hands in disbelief.

"Absolutely Bellona, they gave me a few of them just in case some of you guys decided to join up with them." he replied with his usual grin.

"I really don't know how we can ever repay the two of you." she stated with a small smile.

"Going back into Bosco to help others is more than enough." replied Kagura with a small smile of her own.

"It just seemed like the right thing to do." said Bellona as she grabbed the last of the equipment Natsu was giving them.

"Well I've never really liked goodbyes so I think we're just going to head out and we'll see you all later." said Natsu as he turned away from them and started to head deeper into Fiore with a very specific destination in mind.

 **Two weeks later at Fairy Tail:**

"Did you hear about what the Viridian Death and Viper did on their last escapade?" asked Wakaba as he was reading a newspaper at the bar.

"No I haven't, but I can only assume it dealt with them destroying a lot of things and freeing some slaves." replied Macao with a slight grin.

"Right you are my friend, but this time it was the biggest one they've ever done. And that's not all, they actually did it in the capital of Bosco and apparently Viridian Death destroyed half of the city by himself. During all the confusion about one thousand slaves were rescued and eventually given their freedom back." explained Wakaba as he let out a long whistle at how many slaves were freed.

"I find it hard to believe that just two people could accomplish that." stated Laki from a table just a few feet away from them.

"I'm going to have to agree with her on that, they are probably just over exaggerating the number to make those two look like bigger heroes than they actually are." said Jet as he and Droy took a seat at the bar.

"From what I've heard it's actually the other way around whenever the news talks about those two. Apparently the Council doesn't want to promote two rogue mages who've decided to take matters into their own hands." responded Kinana as she continued to clean some dirty mugs.

"Why would they be doing that?" asked Droy with a confused face as he continued to stuff food into his mouth that he brought with him. He was clearly still not coping well with the loss of the Tenrou Group even after three years.

"Because it could inspire other mages to do the same thing, which overall makes their job that much harder." answered Macao, having learned a lot more about the Council after becoming the guild master.

"Well back to the discussion about how many slaves were actually saved, both of you are wrong since the King of Fiore accepted all of them into the country. And he even lined up jobs for them if they decided to make Fiore their new home, the only ones that didn't take him up on this offer headed back into Bosco to join up with the group that helped save them with those two." said Wakaba as he set the paper down since he had just then finished reading the article.

"See I told you that those two couldn't have done all of that on their own." stated Jet with a smirk.

"Did I forget to mention that the group is completely composed of ex-slaves that those two freed earlier." replied Wakaba with a smug smirk as Jet lost his.

"They also have it by a reliable source that the two of them are now going to be in Fiore for a little while." stated Kinana, since she was the one to actually give the newspaper to Wakaba when he first arrived at the guild.

"Why in the world would those two come here, we don't have any form of Slavery? And the little that we did they stopped by destroying any group of slavers coming across the border." asked Laki as she decided to join the group rather than remain all alone at her table.

"That's not the only thing those two have done ever since they appeared a few years ago, it's just the thing that they're best known for. According to the article they've also eliminated a few dark guilds that they stumbled upon, while also doing odd jobs to probably earn themselves some jewels." she replied with a small smile.

"Why haven't they joined a guild if they're so impressive?" asked Jet with as he looked between Kinana and Wakaba for an answer.

"That's something that the Council and the rest of the public are trying to find out." stated Warren as he entered the guild with a grin on his face.

"Welcome back Warren, how did the job go?" asked Macao with a smile since Warren was one of the few mages that never seemed to cause any property damage while out on a job.

"It was a success Master, apparently it was one of the clients servants trying to get back at him for being mistreated so poorly over the last year." he replied as Kinana handed him a mug of beer.

"Why is everyone so interested in these two mages anyways? I mean all they're doing is freeing some slaves and destroying some dark guilds along the way, that's something we would have been doing just three years ago." stated Jet with a slight frown, not wanting to think about how much Fairy Tail has declined since the loss of the Tenrou Group.

"We were the talk of the country back then, and since no one knows who these two are it just makes it even more interesting." answered Laki as she and the rest of the group had sad expression as they thought of their lost friends.

"Why are they keeping their identities secret, and who in their right mind would want to go by Viridian Death or Viper?" asked Jet not wanting to dwell on their dead friends.

"Probably to protect their loved ones is what I'd have to guess for the reason why they are keeping their identities secret." answered Warren after taking a long drink.

"As for how they got those monikers that would be due to their enemies calling them that after facing them. Viper got her name for how fast and precise her attacks are during combat, it's rumored that she never misses her target. But the thing that makes her even more scary is the fact that she never draws her blade, just think of how deadly she'd be if she actually drew it?" said Kinana with shocked look on her face as she imagined it.

"And Viridian Death got his name because of his green flames and his willingness to kill those that try and stop him. But more specifically he got that since the two of them would always kill the head slaver or whoever was in charge of the operation that they went against. And he also would do the same thing to the Masters of the dark guilds that they took out, the news thinks that the two of them are doing that as a warning to people who might be considering to join a dark guild or the slave business." answered Wakaba as he lit his pipe and took a long puff from it.

"And those two are now just wandering around Fiore?" asked Droy with a slightly scared look on his face.

"Yep, but you have nothing to fear since you aren't a slaver or a dark mage." replied Kinana with a bright smile.

"You still haven't answered my question about why the two of them are now in Fiore." stated Laki as she looked at Kinana with a look that said she wanted an answer.

"Honestly no one has any idea why they all of a sudden decided to come here." she answered still having the same smile as before.

"We probably won't know for who knows how long since they clearly like to have some privacy. Anyways we unfortunately are still a few thousand jewels off from paying Twilight Ogre back for this month." stated Macao with a slight frown. Now ashamed that under his control the guild had to rely on a different guild to remain afloat.

 **With Natsu and Kagura as they entered Magnolia:**

"Man it's been too long since I've seen this place." stated Natsu now wearing his old outfit and deciding to not wear his eye patch either since he felt like it belonged to his other outfit.

"Three years is quite a long time, and I said that we should have come back for a visit a few months ago." replied Kagura as she too was now wearing her old outfit.

"Yes you did Kagura, but every time we were about to do it we would hear about a different group of slavers and we had to do something about them. I just hope they don't try to kill me for only just sending letters to them since I left." he said now having his signature grin spread across his face.

"You seem awfully happy for someone expecting to get beaten up in a few minutes." she stated with a little giggle at how happy he was right now.

"Come on Kagura, you know I can take a beating and I kind of deserve it for being away for so long. Man I can't wait to see everyone at Fairy Tail!" he cheered as he picked up his pace.

"Why would he be so excited to see the members of that rundown guild?" asked a random villager after hearing Natsu. Not knowing that he would be afraid for his life because of saying those simple words to his friend.

"What the hell did you just say about Fairy Tail?" growled Natsu as he lifted the man off the ground by his collar.

"I just said that Fairy Tail is a rundown guild." stuttered the man as he looked into Natsu's one good eye. That had a green fire in it looking like it wanted to be let out and destroy everything in its path.

"Fairy Tail is the number one guild of Fiore!" declared Natsu as he was about to hit this man to the other side of the city.

"Where have you been kid, Fairy Tail lost that title three years ago. They weren't even able to keep their guild hall and were then forced to move to the outskirts of the town and into a rundown mill." said the friend of the man in Natsu's hands.

"You have to be kidding me." replied Natsu as he dropped the terrified man to the ground.

"Sorry kid but we aren't, it's a shame really since there wasn't any other guild like them. They truly cared about each other and the city, unlike Twilight Ogre which happens to be the new guild of Magnolia right now." he responded with a slight frown.

"This can't be true, she would have never let this happen and neither would the rest of them." declared Natsu as he took off running for Fairy Tail's guild hall.

"Did he know them?" asked the man before Kagura could chase after him.

"He used to be a member of the guild a few years back and we've been out of the country until now." she replied with a frown now displayed on her face.

"Shit, then that means you two don't know about the incident." he stated while shaking his head.

"What incident?" she asked, deciding that it would probably be a better use of her time to figure out what exactly happened to Fairy Tail since Natsu left them.

"Shouldn't you be going after your friend?" asked the man that Natsu was about to beat the shit out of only a few moments ago.

"He'll be fine, and figuring out what happened while he was gone will probably be the best use of my time right now." she replied to him as she then turned to the other man. Signaling that he should probably start telling her what exactly happened over the past three years.

"Okay but this will take a little while." he stated before telling her what he knew about Fairy Tail and everything they've gone through over the past three years.

 **With Natsu:**

"There's just no way that any of that could be true, Gramps and Erza would both die before letting something like that happen." he said to himself as he dashed through the streets. He finally came to a stop in front of the guild hall that now looked as if it hadn't been used for the last two years.

"No way, what in the world happened while I was away?" he asked out loud as his left eye slowly started to tear up.

"It's a shame what happened to them three years ago, they tried to keep it open but everyone lost faith in them after that." said an old lady as she shook her head.

"What happened three years ago?" asked Natsu as he turned to look at the old lady with a pleading look. Only to be surprised when she dropped her basket and covered her mouth in sheer shock at seeing his face.

"It can't be you died with the rest of them on that island." she said while taking a few steps away from him.

"I'm definitely not dead, and who else died on an island that you thought I would have been on?" he asked while picking up her basket and trying to hand it back to her. But he failed thanks to her continuing to back away from him looking like she was staring down a ghost at the moment.

"You look just like him, their fire mage that was so full of life and couldn't help but cause trouble." she stated now backed up against a building.

"That's me Natsu Dragneel, now could you please tell me what exactly happened while I was away?" he asked with a sad smile, dreading what he was going to be told.

"Salamander, is it really you?" she asked in a hesitant tone, now thinking that she might have finally gone senile.

"The one and only, but usually that's just what my enemies call me which you definitely aren't." he replied as he tried to muster up his usual grin but he failed terribly at it.

"So you didn't go with them on the S-Class exam three years ago?" she asked him with an eyebrow raised.

"No I kind of got kicked out right before that, so for the past three years I've been seeing the world. And I decided that it was about time to stop by and say hi to a few of my friends." he answered with a slight smile that he lost as soon as the woman had a look of pity come over her features.

"You poor thing, you honestly have no idea what happened after you left do you?" she asked with a worried look on her face. Because she had fond memories of him tearing through the town and destroying anything in his way with his friends all the while laughing as if he was having the time of his life. But she could only imagine what he might do after learning that most of his closest friends perished more than three years ago.

"Getting information about Magnolia and Fairy Tail specifically is really hard to do when you're always on the move and in a different country." he explained with a frown as he scratched the back of his head.

"I don't know how to tell you this dear, maybe you should hear it from the remaining members of your guild." she said with a frown.

"Okay that's the second time you've made it sound like something terrible happened to Fairy Tail while I was gone. Now please tell me what happened, because I honestly can't stand not knowing what happened anymore." he said in a pleading tone with his head down, preventing her from seeing his one good eye.

"I'm truly sorry that you have to learn it like this, but all of Fairy Tail's top mages were killed on that Island of theirs a little over three years ago. The public was never really given the full details on what exactly happened, but considering that the number one guild was taken out so suddenly it's not too surprising that they are keeping what happened that day a secret." she answered and could see how much it was hurting him to just hear this.

"Thanks for telling me that, but I don't believe something like that would cause the rest of the guild to be forced out of the town." said Natsu as he balled up his fists in anger and pain.

"We didn't want Fairy Tail to leave, but after that tragedy a lot of their members left for numerous reasons. And those that remained tried to make ends meet, but they couldn't thanks to the lack of job requests sent their way since there weren't any S-Class mages at the guild anymore. So the mayor was forced to give the title to Twilight Ogre, and unfortunately he also had to kick them out of the guild hall since they couldn't pay for it anymore." she replied, waiting to see how he would react to this.

"So that's what happened, do you mind telling me how you know all of this?" he asked in a somber tone still having his head down.

"I just live right there and I have always been a big fan of Fairy Tail. Despite how rowdy and rambunctious you all could be, or even all the destruction that seems to follow you guys around and more specifically you on that one. I still always knew that you guys were some of the nicest and caring people out there and would do anything to protect each other and the citizens of Magnolia." she responded with a slight smile.

"That we were, wait that's not right I actually meant to say that we are. And don't you worry Fairy Tail is going to be number one in no time, but first I think I should help you take this to your house." he said now giving her his usual grin.

"That sounds nice." she replied as she started to walk with him to her house that was less than a block away.

"Well here you go, and can you point me in the direction of the new guild hall so I don't have to waste any more time than I have to?" he asked while handing her basket back to her and still having his famous grin on his face.

"It's in that direction, and does this mean you'll be joining up with Fairy Tail again after whatever caused you to leave in the first place?" she asked while standing on her steps waiting for him to respond.

"Yeah about that, I don't really know one way or another. But what I do know is that Fairy Tail will be back in that guild hall by the end of the year and will once again be working its way back to the top one step at a time." he replied with confident smirk and a glint in his eye.

"That would make this old lady happier than you could possibly imagine, it just seems wrong for a place that used to be so full of life to no longer make a single noise. I would even be happier if I heard you with them once they return, but I'll trust you that you know what you're doing." she replied with a smile.

"Thanks, but I don't want to hear you complaining when they start partying too loud once they return Ms.?" asked Natsu with his smirk only getting bigger than it was before.

"I won't Salamander, as for who I am you can learn that once Fairy Tail is my neighbor again." she stated with a grin before entering her house and closing the door right behind her. This caused Natsu to let out a little chuckle at being turned down by an old lady who seemed to get more enjoyment than she should have when slamming the door in his face. So with a new look of determination in his eye he headed off in the direction that she pointed him in.

"So this is the new guild hall." he stated as he looked at the rundown mill with a Fairy Tail flag hanging on the front of it. He couldn't help but feel like this was all because of him going off by himself and not returning for three years when they needed him the most. So with that in mind he took a big breath and headed inside, only to be met with complete and utter silence as they all looked at him.

"You have to be fucking kidding me." stated Jet with an upset expression slowly making its way across his face. He wasn't the only one that didn't look very pleased to see their former guild member randomly showing up after being gone for more than three years.

"Natsu is that really you?" asked Laki with a slightly confused expression.

"What happened to your eye?' asked Kinana as she covered her mouth in shock as she and everyone else looked at the large scar going through his right eye.

"Hey everyone, and yes it's me and I lost it in a fight about a year ago." he replied with a sheepish grin. Only for a gasp to go throughout the Fairy Tail mages as they watched Natsu be thrown across the guild thanks to a punch from their local speedster.

"You think you can just come strolling back in here like you used to after everything that has happened?" asked Jet as he glared at Natsu as he slowly picked himself up off of the ground.

"Considering that until just ten minutes ago I thought everything was fine I really don't know what to be thinking right now." he replied with a frown only to be hit in the face again by Jet.

"Jet!" shouted Kinana and Laki as they glared at him.

"Jet that's enough." stated Macao with a frown.

"Like hell it is, if he hadn't gotten himself kicked out a month before the exams then the rest of them would still be here. I mean isn't that why he has his magic, to kill dragons like the one that killed all of them?" asked Jet as he continued to glare at Natsu.

"They were killed by a dragon?" asked Natsu now with a look of horror.

"Acnologia, the dragon of the Apocalypse, and he completely destroyed Tenrou Island and everyone on it." said Wakaba as he cleaned out his pipe with a sad look on his face.

"That's the same one that beat Gildarts." stated Natsu as he looked at Macao for confirmation.

"The same one, which is why most of us believe that it wouldn't have mattered if you were there." he replied while giving Jet a glare, resulting in the speedster to let out a little scoff and then head over to his own table away from Natsu.

"But that still doesn't mean we're okay with you deciding to show back up after three whole years of nothing." said Max as he and a few other looked at Natsu with a look of disappointment and slight anger.

"I'm so sorry guys, I was caught up with some things until now." he said with his head down.

"Unfortunately that isn't going to help Natsu, we really could have used your help after learning what happened to them." replied Droy with a broken expression on his face as memories of his time with Levy flashed before his eyes.

"Look at what happened to the guild while you were doing who knows what." stated Warren as he gestured at their rundown guild hall.

"I know, but I was honestly doing something very important and I know that it just sounds like an excuse but it honestly isn't. And now that I know what has happened while I was gone I want to make it up to all of you." he replied now looking at them with a determined look in his eye.

"And how do you plan to do that?" asked Laki with a slight smile since it was good to finally see someone show the desire and passion that used to be in abundance at their guild.

"Well first off I plan…" he started.

"We don't need your help Natsu; you've already made it perfectly clear that you no longer see yourself as one of us. And honestly I don't want to have to watch you give everyone else here some false hope only for you to disappoint us again." said Jet once again right in front of him.

"Jet what is wrong with you?" asked Laki as she glared at her longtime friend.

"It's okay Laki, he's just trying to protect the guild and I can't blame him for it." said Natsu with a sad smile.

"Natsu we all don't think that." stated Kinana with a warm smile.

"I know, but I don't want to upset any of you guys so I'll leave and you'll never have to see me again if you don't want to." he replied as he slowly started to head towards the door.

"So does that mean those that want to see you again will?" she asked no longer having a smile on her face.

"Probably, but it won't be in Magnolia or here at the guild since as Jet said I'm no longer a member. But I do have one question before I head out again, and that is why does most of the town and most likely the rest of the country think I'm dead?" he asked now in the doorway.

"Master Makarov never informed the Council about you being kicked out of the guild and he also left your name on the list of mages competing to become S-Class that year. It was probably because he thought that you would be back within a few months and didn't want to do any more paperwork than he had to." answered Macao with a sad smile.

"And none of you decided to inform the Council of me actually still being alive?" he asked with a sad smile of his own.

"Why would we do that when for all we knew you were already dead since you never returned." replied Jet as he continued to glare daggers at the dragon slayer.

"Jet that's enough, and we didn't correct them about that Natsu because we were still trying to deal with the loss which some of us are still trying to do. And then after the first year we were no longer receiving any more letters from you." corrected Kinana with a slight smile.

"I kept sending them until just a month ago." he said with a disappointed look in his eye.

"They were probably still sent to the old guild hall or maybe to your old place since that was always the return address." suggested Wakaba, now feeling slightly bad for the man who had to deal with just finding out that his closest friends died three years ago. That alone would usually stop most people from being able to talk, but he also now had to now deal with some of his other friends now placing the blame of everything else that happened since then on him.

"Its fine and I guess I'll inform the Council about me not actually being dead whenever I have some free time. And you probably don't believe me when I say this, but I'm really glad to know that the rest of you are okay." he said with his usual grin before stepping out and letting the door close behind him.

"Now look what you did Jet, who knows the next time we're ever going to see him again." stated Laki as she and a few others glared at him.

"Hey, I wasn't the only one upset at him for not coming back until now." he replied in a defensive tone.

"Yes, but you were the only one to physically attack him and blame him for everything." pointed out Macao with a prominent frown spread across his face.

"I know for a fact that others wanted to." he stated.

"That is probably true Jet, but unlike you they could already see that Natsu is in enough pain as it is. He just learned that while he was away almost all of his family died to a dragon, and he also didn't need you telling him that his magic was specifically tailored to handle. Honestly Jet I am positive that they would all be upset with how you handled that situation, hell they would be mad at me for allowing it to go that far." explained Macao with a frown before he turned back to his mug and started to drink.

"Shit." Jet mumbled to himself as he sat down at a table by himself with a frown of his own wondering if he did go too far.

 **Back with Natsu:**

"I promise that I'll make it up to all of you." he declared quietly to himself while staring at his feet. Not noticing a group of five guys walking towards him, that then resulted in him colliding with one of them on the edge of the group.

"Watch where you're going punk." shouted the leader of the group who had a large club resting on his shoulder.

"Sorry." mumbled Natsu as he continued on.

"Sorry isn't going to cut it bub, my friend needs to be repaid for you getting in his way." stated the leader as the rest of his men started to chuckle.

"What in the world are you talking about, I just bumped into him and nothing bad happened so why would I need to pay him anything?" he asked now turning around to look at the group. And from his first impression he could already tell that they were nothing but a bunch of street thugs who enjoyed pushing around people less fortunate than them.

"You must not be from around here, because if you did you wouldn't be acting so high and mighty while talking to us." said the leader now sporting a smug grin.

"Honestly all I see right now are five assholes who think they're big shit since they've never even faced a real challenge in their lives." he replied as a sinister grin spread across his lips, enjoying the looks of pure hatred he was receiving from the five men.

"Thinbault, show this outsider why we rule this town." said one of the other men in the group.

"Why you little piece of shit, you're acting just like those filthy Fairies did when we first arrived in this town. And now I'm going to teach you the same lesson that I taught them, nobody messes with Twilight Ogre!" Thinbault shouted while swinging his club down onto Natsu's head.

Thinbault and his men thought that it was going to be over with a swing like that, which is what usually happened for them and resulted with those witnessing it to run away in fear or with them doing whatever the group told them to do. But he and his men realized that this was not going to be one of those cases as Natsu stopped the club just an inch away from hitting his head with just his bare hands.

"So you're from Twilight Ogre, no wonder the people of Magnolia are waiting for Fairy Tail to return and drive you thugs away." stated Natsu with a grin as Thinbault tried to pull away his club, but was having no luck thanks to it being caught in Natsu's vice like grip.

"Get him boys!" shouted Thinbault while still trying to rip his weapon away from the dragon slayer. It took the rest of his gang a second to spring into action, and when they did they were shocked to see their boss go flying backwards a few yards.

"Aren't you going to get me?" Natsu asked with a confident smirk as they looked at him with a shocked expression. And that was all they needed to once again charge at him and finish him off like Thinbault ordered them to. The first strike was a large hammer slamming into the ground where he once stood, and before the man with the hammer could even react he felt the wind being knocked out of him as he was launched back a few feet.

The smaller man of the group didn't waste any time and tried to use this opportunity to land a kick to the back of Natsu's head. But he was caught off guard when Natsu bent over and dodged the kick without even looking at him, and he would have tried to figure out how he did that if he didn't all of a sudden feel immense pain shoot from his other knee.

"AAAAHHHH!" he screamed out as he fell to the ground now with a shattered knee cap thanks to a swift kick from Natsu. As he looked up he was shocked to see Natsu with one of his friends fists caught as if it was nothing as his last friends elbow was bent the wrong direction over Natsu's shoulder and still being held there as the guy screamed out in pain.

"All you had to do was accept my apology and none of you would be in this pain." said Natsu as he crushed the one man's hand while also smashing the back of his head into the man screaming out in pain from his broken arm he still had pinned behind him. After his head connected with the other's the screaming stopped as the man fell to the ground now unconscious.

"FUCKING DIE!" screamed Thinbault as he swung his club at Natsu. This time feeling the satisfying resistance of someone being hit by his weapon, but when he reopened his eyes he was shocked to see one of his own men was now smashed and thrown to the side from his last attack.

"Are you kidding me, you actually attack with your eyes closed!" stated Natsu as he started to laugh and clutch his side.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" shouted Thinbault as he swung his club once again at Natsu. And just like the first time it was easily stopped by the dragon slayer who now was glaring at him with a look of pure rage behind his one eye that looked like it had a green fire lit inside of it.

"Thinbault is it? I'm going to show you something that I didn't plan on showing anyone for a while since it's a dead giveaway as to what I've been doing for the past three years. Actually it will show you and everyone else who I've been for the past three years." he said as his green fire quickly engulfed the club. And in the next few seconds Thinbault and his men watched in horror as it was reduced to nothing but the small handle still in Thinbault's hand.

"What the fuck did you just do!" shouted out Thinbault in a terrified voice. Only for his head to snap back because of a punch hitting him square in the nose, and the only reason that he didn't go flying back was due to the firm grip Natsu had on the front of his shirt.

"Isn't it obvious, I sent that shitty weapon of yours to the next world. Something that I really want to do to you since you're making other mages look like we're nothing but some common street thugs!" he replied while punching him over and over again until half of his teeth were missing and he could barely see through his swollen face.

"Who the hell are you?" asked the man with a shattered knee only to be kicked in the side and in the process easily breaking a few of his ribs.

"Isn't that pretty obvious, as far as I know I'm the only fire mage with green flames." he answered while picking up the hammer and then throwing it at its owner and bringing him down to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Oh dear god you're the Viridian Death?" squeaked out the man with a completely crushed hand.

"The one and only, now I think you two are going to tell me why you're heading to Fairy Tail." he stated while slowly walking towards the one that just talked to him. The poor mage was like a deer caught in the headlights as he stared back at Natsu as he slowly approached him.

"W-w-w-we w-w-weren't d-d-doing n-nothing." the man replied only to then start screaming out in pain as his left foot was being smashed by Natsu's foot.

"I didn't think I'd have to tell you that I hate being lied to, and if you couldn't tell I'm kind of having a really bad day right now and can be set off pretty easy." he said while glaring down at the man now whimpering in pain.

"We were supposed to collect our jewels from them and then rough them up a bit." coughed out the one holding his ribs as he tried to sit back up.

"Interesting, well guess what guys you now are all responsible for their debt to you. So from here on out you will wait until they have the jewels to pay you and that means they are only going to repay what they borrowed from you." he stated as he looked from one to the other.

"But our Master is probably going to want to receive some extra jewels from them." said the man now finally back into a sitting position, even though it caused him to wince out in pain.

"That is where you five come into play, anytime your Master wants extra jewels you guys are going to foot the extra amount. Oh and if he wants it early then you'll have to pay that too, and I think it should be pretty obvious that I don't want to hear about any of you guys or anyone else from your guild harassing anyone from Fairy Tail. Actually I don't want to hear one bad thing about any of you guys the next time I visit Magnolia, because if I do it won't end well for any of you." he said while dusting off the little bit of dirt that got onto him during their fight if you could call it that.

"That's absurd!" shouted the one with a broken hand and foot.

"Just as absurd as it is for your guild to pretend to want to help Fairy Tail when they were still grieving over the loss of their family to only due all of that so you can think you're better than them. Either way it doesn't really matter because if you don't do this then I will hunt all of you down and make you beg for me to kill you after I'm through with you." he replied while starting to walk away from them. Both of the mages were now looking at him as if he was the scariest thing they've ever witnessed which is probably the truth.

"Oh and I won't kill you if you're wondering because then that would mean I couldn't do the same thing to you all again after you've all completely recovered. Oh and one last thing, I was never here and I expect my secret to remain that otherwise, actually I don't know what I'd do but what I do know is that it wouldn't be pretty. It would probably result with you five at least losing one limb a piece, really depends upon how angry I am if it happens." he said before walking away from the completely defeated group with a proud smirk on his face.

"Natsu did you really have to say all of that?" asked Kagura as she appeared beside him with a slight smirk of her own.

"Probably not, but it's one of the perks of having a moniker known for being brutal in combat. It makes all of those threats seem extremely possible, which will cause them to never go against what I just told them to do." he replied as he lost his smirk and now had a sad expression.

"I'm so sorry." she said while grabbing his hand and giving it a comforting squeeze.

"Thanks Kagura, it just still seems like a terrible joke to me. I mean they were some of the strongest mages I've ever met and yet they were all just taken out by a goddamn dragon like it was nothing." he said with his tone getting harsh at the very end.

"A dragon killed them?" she asked with a surprised look.

"That's what the guild told me." he replied now having the biggest frown she'd ever seen him have during their time together.

"What happened when you visited them, it looks like they got at least two good hits in on you?" she asked while looking at the two bruises on his face that she knew he didn't receive from those other guys.

"Let's just say that a few of them were unhappy to see me return this late, and a few of them blame me for what happened to the others. So it's safe to say that they won't want to see me for a while which is something that I can't really blame them for." he told her still frowning.

"You know that you aren't responsible for any of that Natsu, and they are only placing the blame on you because it's easier that way for them." she stated while bringing him to a complete stop so he'd have to look at her in the eyes.

"I know, which is why they're going to receive my help even if they don't want it or know it." he said with a serious expression that he seemed to only use when making a decision that he wasn't going to rest until he completed whatever it was that he decided on doing.

"That's the Natsu I love to see." she said before giving him a quick kiss on the lips as a slight blush graced her face.

"Honestly I don't know how I got so lucky to have you as my partner." he replied now with his hands around her waist.

"You saved me from becoming a slave all those years ago and kept doing it from that day onwards." she stated while looking at his missing eye with a slight frown, that was interrupted by him initiating another kiss with her that was a little more heated than the one she did.

"And I'll keep doing that until the day I die Kagura, and for the last time it wasn't your fault. So please stop frowning whenever you look at me without my eyepatch, or is that your way of telling me you like me more when I'm wearing it?" he asked with a sly grin as she playfully hit him on the chest a few times.

"I like you no matter what you're wearing, but what I don't like is seeing you sad or upset. I think I should go and visit your old guild and tell them what you've been doing since they kicked you out just because you saved your friends." she replied now having the look he often saw her have before they entered a fight.

"Easy now, you just said it yourself Kagura. They're only taking their anger out on me since they can't really put it anywhere else, which I'm fine with if it helps them eventually get rid of it. So let's keep what we've been doing a secret like we originally planned to do before coming here." he said while still holding her in between his arms.

"Fine, but if they ever make you upset or start doubting yourself like this again not even you will be able to stop me from giving them a piece of my mind." she responded with a determined look spread across her face.

"That sounds about right, so before we head off I need to make one more stop." he said after letting out a little chuckle at her declaration to him.

"And where might that be, do I get to see that little place of yours?" she asked with a bright smile as they went back to walking hand in hand.

"I need to pay a visit to the cemetery and say a few words to my friends." he answered with a sad smile, as they then both walked in silence for the rest of the way there.

"I'll be waiting for you here." said Kagura as she stopped at the entrance and only received a slight nod from him as acknowledgement.

He walked to a place that he unfortunately visited a few more times than he would have ever liked to during the time that they thought Lisanna was dead. But this time it was way worse than any of those times, because now instead of just one headstone with a name of a dear friend there were now twenty one of them.

"I can't believe that all of you are gone." he said while slowly walking in front of each one and reading off the name and remembering some of the good times he had with them.

"You three were some of the most loyal people I've ever seen, even if that caused you all to be our enemies for just a day. But man was that fight with Laxus intense, and you don't know how happy and relieved I was when nothing happened when Fairy Law was activated. That crazy bastard almost had me believing that he actually stopped caring about the rest of us." he said with a little chuckle as he looked at the headstones of the three members of the Thunder Legion.

"I can't believe that I'm once again looking at your grave Lisanna but this time with both of your siblings right next to you. Didn't you tell me after last time you weren't ever going to leave me like this again, but I guess you could have never seen something like this happening. Well at least your final moments were with Mira and Elfman, man I'm going to miss you three a lot since you were the only ones that let me see what a real family is like together." he said while wiping away a few tears that started to fall as he looked at the three headstones of the takeover siblings.

"Hey Gildarts, you really seem to have some shitty luck to run into that bastard again. I can't believe that someone as strong as you could be taken down like this, but don't worry I'll make sure to even surpass you in strength so I can make that bastard pay." growled out Natsu as he looked at the tombstone of Gildarts Clive.

"And don't worry Gramps; I'm not setting out on a revenge quest or anything. I'm just going to make sure that if I ever see Acnologia that he can never do something like this again. Also I'm so sorry for not returning sooner but I never knew that something like this happened otherwise I would have stopped whatever I was doing and come straight back here. But I'm guessing that if you could talk to me right now you'd be sayings something like what I was doing in Bosco was helping more people than what I could've done here. You were always okay with me destroying more than what most would consider acceptable if it meant that lives were saved." he said with sad chuckle as he looked at the headstone that had the name of his former master on it.

"Cana, did you ever get to tell him about being his daughter? I honestly never understood why you didn't tell him the first time you saw him after he returned from a job. But then again I have no idea what happened before I came to Fairy Tail all those years ago so I decided that it would be better if I didn't stick my nose into it. I know that he would have accepted you right away; I mean he somehow put up with me always trying to attack him. Anyways I just hope you were able to at least tell him before it all came to an end." he said with a frown before leaving her headstone.

"It seems like the guild knew that you two were going to be a couple just like I did even if the two of you didn't know it yet. Honestly Levy I am one of the dumbest people out there and could see how much you two cared about each other. At first that was the main reason that I started to get into fights with the metal head at the guild since I didn't think he was actually good enough for you. But what can I say Gajeel you grew on me and became a brother that I knew would always have my back no matter what the circumstances were. I know that you protected her with everything that you had and I'm just sorry that I wasn't there to help." said Natsu as he gently touched Levy's headstone while putting his palm on the headstone of Gajeel's. And once he removed his hand from his headstone there was now a small dragon burned into it.

"What in the world were you doing there Laxus, I thought you'd be still wondering the country like I was. But considering that you weren't at the guild when I returned and the new master I should have seen this coming. I'm so sorry that the guild is now exactly what you were afraid of it becoming, but don't worry man I'll help them so they're once again the number one guild in Fiore." he said while doing the same thing that he did to Gajeel's headstone to his.

"Anyone else with your abilities would have just gone into the water to save themselves. But you loved all of them way too much for an idea like that to ever cross your mind. Granted your extreme love for Gray kind of freaked me out, but now I kind of understand you and actually admire how forward you were with it. Honestly I've always sucked when it comes to those things and just tried to ignore them which never turned out to be good idea." he said with a slight smile as he looked at the tombstone of Juvia Lockser.

"What can I honestly say about you two expect for you two where their best friends a dragon slayer could have and stuck with them to the very end." stated Natsu as he looked at the tombstones of Pantherlily and Carla, which finally brought him to his team that even included a tombstone for himself.

"I'm so sorry guys, even after doing all of those terrible things I still couldn't save any of you. I still find it hard to believe that you were all okay with sticking around with someone how only caused us to get less of the reward. But I'm happy that you all did since those were some of the best times of my life and I would do anything to just spend one day with all of you. Gray I know you'd hit me hard for saying something like this but I've always loved you like a brother that I never got to have. Happy you were the best partner I could have ever asked for and you stuck with me since the day I found you. Lucy I'm so glad that we ran into each other that day because I can't imagine Fairy Tail without you getting upset at me and complaining about paying your rent on time. By the way Loke I need to have a few words with you about lying to my face like you did back then you asshole. Wendy I was so excited to finally meet a female dragon slayer and all I can say is that you blew all of my expectations out of the water. You were the nicest person I've ever met, but lying underneath that was a fierce dragon waiting to protect her friends if the need should ever arise." he said while stopping in front of each of theirs and putting the same dragon emblem on Wendy's like he did to the other two dragon slayers. The whole time he had tears running down his cheeks as he remembered all of the fun times he spent with them.

"Erza I don't even know what to say right now except for I regret never telling you how much you mean to me. But I always had a feeling that you knew whatever I was thinking about when I was troubled, which would mean that you definitely knew how I felt about you since it really troubled me for a while. And don't worry I'll start doing what I had you promise to do for me before I left until someone better than me can take over. Oh and I met someone who was like you in more ways than anyone could possibly believe, but this time I told her rather than keeping it to myself like I did with you not that I was trying to find a replacement or anything. I just seem to have a very specific type is all." he said now on his knees in front of her grave with his head down.

"I know that all of you wouldn't want to see me like this, so from this point on I'll make sure to make you all proud. But before that I have to get rid of something that doesn't belong here." he said after wiping away his last tears and then heading over to his own headstone. And with a quick wave of his hand it was covered in his flames and then was slowly reduced to nothing as he turned and headed out of the cemetery.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay a little longer?" asked Kagura as she came up to his side and started to walk at his pace.

"I've said what I needed to, and now I need to make them proud of me." he replied while looking off to the distance.

"And how do you plan to do that?" she asked with a concerned look since she expected him to remain there for at least another hour.

"By doing a lot of hard work and having a quick chat with the Council." he stated with a serious expression as the headed towards the exit of Magnolia.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I really hope that you enjoyed this one. So the next chapter is going to be the return of The Tenrou Group which means a lot of thing will most likely be covered in flashbacks or a member of the guild that didn't go missing telling the others a story. Fair warning though Natsu and Kagura will probably have very little time in the next chapter since the Tenrou Group will be the main focus. So a quick heads up on something that I'm going to do which will hopefully allow me to update these stories quicker, something that a few of you have been asking for, if you'd like to find out what I'm planning on doing check out my profile since I don't want to waste any more of your time than I already have with this sentence.** **Well as always feel free to send me a review or PM and I'll try to respond back as soon as I can.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	5. A Shocking Discovery

Ch 5: A Shocking Discovery

 **March 18th X791 in a remote city in the center of a mountain range on the Northeastern part of Fiore:**

The name of this remote city was Aster and was surprisingly half the size of Magnolia which was odd given that it was quite secluded and the train only came to it once a day unless there was some sort of emergency. Something that could only be declared by either the Council or the guild Master of the local guild, which might be the reason for the city being as big as it is.

Because just three years ago Aster had a fourth of its current inhabitants than it does now and that was before the new guild of Repentant Heart moved in. At the time very little was known about the guild except that its master was the mysterious Wizard Saint that used to be known as Viridian Death. A name that is still used for him every once and a while, but he is mainly called that by his enemies since he still seems to leave quite the body count after completing his jobs. But he isn't completely responsible for that since he happens to be the Wizard Saint that the Council sends out on the jobs that have really low odds of him surviving.

As soon as the information got out about Repentant Heart setting up their guild hall in Aster got out it was the start of people slowly moving there. Some people at first only came to get a look at the mysterious guild and their Master but after seeing how nice Aster really was a lot of them decided to move there. Because it was never really a bad idea to move to a city where it was known that a Wizard Saint lived in it since that was almost enough to completely get rid of crime. But add in the fact that the Wizard Saint of Aster was Viridian Death and there really wasn't any crimes being committed since no one wanted to go up against him for numerous reasons.

Now Viridian being the Master of Repentant Heart wasn't the only noteworthy thing about the mysterious guild. One thing that was odd about them was that if you came and visited Aster you would have a really hard time finding their Guildhall since they didn't have any banners hanging outside of it or anything else that would set it apart from the other buildings there. It was just a large manor that was built on a plateau overlooking the town and nestled in the middle of a small forest on the mountainside.

Another thing that remained a mystery about Repentant Heart was their policy for accepting new guild members because as far as everyone else knew they never once accepted someone into their guild that came to them. Even well-known and qualified mages where turned down after having a short conversation with Master Viridian, who would just tell them that they weren't what he was looking for. So as far as the public could tell the only way for someone to join this guild was for Repentant Heart to actually come after you personally, which made sense since the guild was definitely one of the smallest guilds in the country.

Even though the total number of members was less than twenty it didn't stop them from being indisputably one of strongest guilds in the country. Something that they proved to the country by finally competing in the Grand Magic Games last year and quite easily taking the title of number one guild from Sabretooth while not even using some of their more well-known members. And by well-known, that is referring to their strength and monikers since most members of the guild kept their identities hidden from the public just like their master continued to do even after being named a Wizard Saint.

A few of the guild members that didn't try to hide their identities were actually the cause of a slight controversy about the guild since they used to be well known dark mages. This of course caused the public to instantly start thinking that the other members might also be ex-dark mages. But after a while of nothing bad happening because of them and then added to the fact that they were actually saving countless lives it just became a thing that everyone eventually accepted and kind of forgot about or didn't care. Because if any of the members did decide to possibly go back to their old ways everyone knew that Master Viridian and Viper would easily be able to handle them.

Needless to say Repentant Heart is somehow well-known while also at the same time being a mystery that most of the country was eager to learn more about. But there was one way to easily spot one of their members, which was the black and green cloak or coats that most of them would wear that have their emblem embroidered on the back of them. Which was a simple heart surrounded in flames, not a very elaborate emblem but it seemed to fit their name quite well since being repentant isn't really a thing that you can show in an emblem.

If you were to ask any citizen of Aster about the members of their local guild they would all say that they are some of the most well behaved and polite mages that they've ever met. Who never cause any sort of problem for the city and even when they are training it only can just barely be heard above the noises of daily life in the city since they are on the outskirts. And as luck would have it, that just so happens to be exactly what is happening at the moment with three of their top members and also their Master.

"I almost got you there Master." taunted the voice of a woman who you couldn't tell who it was thanks to her hood being up at the moment. But that didn't stop a few of her pink locks to fall out as she flipped back to avoid a slash from a flaming green sword.

"That you did, but it only happened because I think I just felt something odd." he replied as he sheathed his sword and turned away from his sparing opponent and looked out over Aster now with a thoughtful expression.

"Why did you two stop?" asked another woman that you couldn't tell any of her features due to the cloak she had on and was completely covering her face.

"Yeah, usually nothing stops you in the middle of a training session." said the third woman who the public knew as Viper. One of the founding members of the guild who actually was with Viridian before he became a prominent figure across the country, just like she did thanks to their well-known exploits that mainly consisted of what they did in Bosco.

All three of the women looked at their Master with concern for two whole minutes in silence, waiting for him to finally speak up. "I just got a feeling that something very big just happened." he finally stated in a bland tone that didn't indicate whether it would be good or not.

"Which one of your feelings Master?" asked the pink haired woman.

"Honestly I don't know, either way I know it's going to cause a lot of changes so we should all be on high alert." he replied while pulling down his hood and then running a hand through his pink locks.

"Should I call back everyone for an emergency meeting?" asked the other unknown woman.

"I don't think there is a need for that, but if you could send out a message for them to be on guard that would be greatly appreciated." he answered as he couldn't help but think back to the last time he felt something like this. It was roughly seven years ago but rather than being a stabbing sensation like it was back then this time it felt soothing as if a part of him was finally whole.

"Consider it done." she replied as she then set out towards the manor off to the left of them.

"I take it that we're done for today?" asked the pink haired woman already knowing that they were.

"Yes, we'll pick back up tomorrow where we left off if that's okay with you." he answered as he now had a distant look in his eyes. She gave a quick nod and then took off after the other woman, leaving him alone with Viper who during this whole time was clearly the most concerned for him out of the three women.

"What is it Natsu?" asked Kagura as she took down her hood and made him to turn and look at her.

"I seriously don't know Kagura, it seems vaguely similar to what a felt around the time that the Tenrou group died." he responded with a frown now making an appearance.

"You don't think something like that happened again to Fairy Tail?" she asked knowing how much he still cared for his old guild even after all of these years.

"I don't, because if it was them then we would have been getting a few different calls by now." he stated while shaking his head and getting rid of his frown.

"Then what are you going to do?" she asked him while grabbing his hand and quickly interlocking fingers with him.

"I think the smartest choice would be to go and pay the Council a visit and see if they know what I possibly could have sensed happening." he said with a tender smile before bringing her in for an equally tender yet loving kiss.

"What was that for?" she asked him after they finally separated.

"Just wanted to make sure that you know how much I love you and there is absolutely nothing in this world that could change that." he replied with a smirk before bringing her in for another one.

 **At Tenrou Island:**

"I can't believe that it's actually been almost seven years." stated Makarov while still finding it all really hard to believe. But seeing how much everyone else had changed and hearing the words of the First was enough proof for him to accept that this wasn't all some sort of elaborate prank.

"You're got that right, it felt like I only just woke up from a nap." said Gildarts having one of his goofy grins on his face as he tried to hug a very reluctant Cana.

"I've wanted to know what all of that is about?" asked Max as he pointed at the two of them.

"Gildarts is her father." answered Lucy with a bright smile, glad that she was able to help Cana eventually be able to tell him.

"You've got to be joking." stated the whole group together that came to look for everyone on Tenrou.

"Are you saying that you can't see the family resemblance?" asked Gildarts with a blank expression, now looking at them and no longer trying to hug his daughter which she was thankful for.

"How do I say this…" replied Jet with a nervous expression as he tried to come up with the correct words.

"She's attractive while you're anything but that." blurted out Droy without realizing that he just insulted their Ace.

"That she is, just like her mother." stated Gildarts, to everyone's shock as he went back to being an over bearing father and trying to make up for the lost time between the two of them.

"So how was the guild in our absence?" asked Erza who just like the rest of their group was still finding it hard to believe that seven years had passed by for them in the blink of an eye.

"We're no longer the number one guild in Fiore but are still in the top five." replied Jet proudly.

"Yeah but we did have that time where things were looking really bad for us." said Warren with somber look.

"No kidding, during that period people would actually openly laugh at us." said Max with a slight frown.

"What in the world happened?" asked Mira with a concerned look that she had a lot of the time for her fellow guild members when they went out on jobs.

"That's kind of a long story." stated Droy as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well considering that we have the rest of the trip back for you to tell us I think we have plenty of time." pointed out Gray as he casually leaned against the side of the ship in just his pants.

"He does have a point." stated Alzack with a slight grin, he like the rest of the search party was just so excited for them to actually be back.

"What about those two?" asked Bisca as she first pointed to Laxus who was being doted by the Thunder Legion. Her finger then went to signal out Gajeel who had Levy looking after him, both of them suffering from severe motion sickness while Wendy was still completely fine. She was happily sitting with all of the Exceeds and listening in on everyone else talking.

"Someone else can fill them in later, because I for one want to know what happened while we were gone a soon as possible." replied Makarov as the rest of the Tenrou Group nodded in agreement.

"Then I guess I'll start." said Warren as he then started to recount the events that took place starting at when they were first told about the Tenrou Group perishing. He got all the way to the point right before things started to turn around for them, which also happened to be right after Natsu visited them, when someone decided to speak up.

"I just realized something." said Happy causing everyone to look at him as Warren stopped talking so they could listen to him.

"And what's that Happy?" asked Wendy with a slight smile.

"Where's Natsu?" he asked, making the Tenrou Group all realize that the Exceed was correct about the hyperactive dragon slayer not being present which now seemed really odd. Because even with him having to ride on a boat, they all knew that something like that wouldn't have stopped him from coming to see them.

"Now that you mention it he also hasn't been in any of the stuff that you've been telling us so far." stated Erza as she looked at the group and was confused by their expressions. Bisca and Alzack looked like they were glaring at the other four for some reason who all looked nervous and a little guilty, especially Jet.

"That would be due to him having yet to return to the guild since he was kicked out." replied Alzack as he realized that he and his wife would most likely have to answer a few of the next questions. This caused a gasp to come from the members learning of this for the first time.

"Flame brain actually stayed away from the guild for almost three years?" asked Gray so shocked at hearing this that he didn't try to get Juvia off of him.

"I find it also hard to believe that he wouldn't come and visit for that long." said Makarov with a frown because he, just like a few others were now fearing that Natsu might have died because that seemed like the only possible explanation for him being away for that long.

"Well he was, but he did keep sending letters to us about once a month but never having it where we could figure out his current location. Now me and Alzack weren't there when he finally showed up again because of some personal stuff, so one of these four will have to tell you what exactly happened to cause us to never hear from him again." stated Bisca as she glared at Jet with a glare that rivaled what Erza and Mira could do.

"Wait, did you just say that you haven't heard from him since then?" asked Erza in a shocked tone.

"Yep, and like my wife said you'll have to talk to these four since we were pretty busy at the time." replied Alzack with a slight smirk as a murderous aura was now coming off of Erza as she turned on the other four and looked ready to obliterate them.

"Settle down Erza, now did I hear correctly that Bisca is your wife?" asked Makarov as he had a hand on Erza's shoulder so she wouldn't go and start her own interrogation of the other four.

"That you did Master Makarov, almost a year before Natsu came back we got married." answered Bisca with a bright smile as she was now being hugged by her husband from behind.

"And why didn't you tell us this sooner?" asked Mira already extremely giddy at hearing that they finally got together.

"We didn't want to interrupt Warren in the middle of his explanation of everything that happened. And I also thought that it would probably be better to wait until I could show you all of the pictures along with it." she explained with a bright smile as Mira let out a squeal of delight.

"Wait, so why weren't the two of you at the guild when Natsu came back?" asked Lucy with a confused expression.

"I don't care, what I want to know is why has he not come back since then or even remained in contact with you all?" asked Erza as she continued to glare at the four guys now physically as far away from her as possible.

"Erza could you please keep your emotions in check?" asked Makarov as he gave her a stern look.

"Sorry Master, it won't happen again." she replied as she gave him a quick bow and then went back to glaring at the other four.

"To answer your question Lucy the reason why we weren't there was because we were taking care of our daughter Asuka." said Bisca only for most of the men to have to cover their ears thanks to most of the girls letting out an excited squeal and starting to ask the happy parents tons of questions. This resulted in the next ten minutes being completely focused on Asuka and only stopped because of a certain scarlet knight needed to know what happened to Natsu.

"Sorry to stop this conversation about Asuka that I definitely want to continue at a later time. But I feel like I've been more than polite so far and now you four will tell me exactly what happened when Natsu returned to the guild. And I expect the whole truth or you'll all receive my most severe punishment that will make you wish you were never been born." declared Erza once again having a murderous aura around her. The four poor mages looked to Master Makarov for help since if she was saying it was severe it was probably considered torture by almost everyone else.

"Sorry boys but I've held her off for as long as I can and I'm also very curious as to what could have caused Natsu to never come back to the guild." stated Makarov with a smug grin as he could see that he completely dashed all of their hopes. It was another full minute of awkward silence until one of them finally decided to get it over with and pray that Erza doesn't kill Jet.

"Fine but let me finish with everything before you say anything." said Max who then went straight into explaining what happened that day since it didn't really matter if she agreed or not because he intended to not stop until he was done. "After that we never saw him again." he finished with a frown as the Tenrou Group was left speechless for a few different reasons.

"And the only thing that I could find out about him after that was he proved to the Council that he wasn't dead but otherwise he once again hasn't made a single appearance like he did during the first three years." said Warren hoping that him trying to actually find the dragon slayer would mean something to them.

"Warren's right, he once again disappeared without a trace. We all tried to find him for a full month afterwards so we could apologizes to him." stated Jet with his head down, only to lift it up when he heard a commotion going on. And the source of the commotion was none other than Erza Scarlet trying to get at him but was being held back by Gildarts who definitely looked very upset about what he just learned.

"Let me at him Gildarts, I'm going to hurt him for treating Natsu like that!" she screamed as she struggled to get out of his grasp but had no luck.

"Erza do you think that is what he would want you to do right now? Because I know for a fact that Natsu could have easily beat the shit out of the whole guild if he wanted to back then but he didn't." said Gildarts as he gave Jet a quick menacing glare only to refocus on Erza once again.

"He's right Erza, because even though Jet and a few others definitely deserve a good ass kicking for what they did it won't solve anything." stated Makarov which thankfully calmed Erza and a few others down who also looked ready to give mainly Jet the beating of a lifetime.

"But what if he's dead now Master? All because the one place he thought of as his home and that he could always return to turned him away and even went so far as to blame him for things he couldn't have done anything to stop." asked Erza no longer even trying to get at Jet.

"If that did happen then you're going to have to learn to forgive the rest of the guild since you would be doing exactly what they did to him." he replied with a sad expression as he contemplated what could have happened to the dragon slayer.

"This is nothing like what they did to him Master, because unlike Natsu they actually did something to turn him away without even trying to figure out why he didn't return sooner." she stated with a defiant look that he had never seen on her face before.

"I can already see that I won't be able change your mind which is fine. Because I am confident that Natsu is definitely still out there causing trouble for someone else." he responded with a huge grin taking residence on his face.

"He's right Erza, there is no way Ash for Breath kicked the bucket since we still don't know who's stronger between the two of us." said Gray with a smug grin as Juvia nodded in agreement next to him.

"Yeah, he was able to deal with strong opponents like Zero and always somehow came out on top so of course he's still fine." pointed out Lucy with a bright smile, confident that they were going to see the dragon slayer again.

"Natsu's a true Man!" shouted Elfman.

"They're all right Erza, all we have to do is have faith in him like we always have and he'll come through since that is what he has always done." said Mira, knowing way Erza was so upset by all of this.

"He better, because if he doesn't then we will definitely have a few words with just the two of us Jet." stated Erza as she gave him a glare that would haunt the speedster's dreams for quite some time.

"Honestly Jet I'm disappointed in you." said Levy with a displeased look that everyone could see really hurt Jet but honestly didn't care after what they just heard.

"Okay everyone I'm confident that he and everyone else are sorry about what happened that day and we don't need to make it harder on them. Because like I said before I'm positive that Natsu is still out there and will eventually show up when he wants to. But first there are still some things that need to be explained since the last thing we were told the guild was not doing so well." stated Makarov not wanting to see his children fighting each other like this. Because the only fighting he liked seeing them do were the guild brawls where they constantly had smiles on their faces during all of it.

"This is where a few unexplained things started to happen." said Bisca with a smile.

"What kind of unexplained things?" asked Lucy because of her curious nature and also not wanting to them fighting with each other.

"Well for starters Twilight Ogre randomly stopped harassing us on our loan payments and didn't even care if we were late." stated Alzack as he started to stroke his chin in thought.

"There were also those random jobs that none of us did but the guild got the credit for doing them and the reward being sent to us." said Bisca.

"I have to say the strangest one for me at least was the anonymous benefactor that put us back into your old guild hall that was also completely refurnished with everything we could have ever wanted. Like the new training equipment and arena out behind that allowed us to get more out of our training than before." commented Warren.

"You're forgetting that right after that we only had to pay the city only a fourth of what we used to for two whole years." reminded Max with a slight smile.

"And when did all of this exactly happen?" asked Makarov with thoughtful look on his face.

"Over the next year and a half I think." replied Droy.

"The last thing was the guild hall being given back to us." said Bisca as a smug grin slowly came over Makarov's face at hearing this.

"Master why are you grinning like that?" asked Lisanna who apparently caught his smug grin.

"Oh no reason at all my dear, so why don't you keep filling us in on what has happened at the guild while we were gone." he replied as he then looked at the other mages for them to continue talking. The remainder of their trip back to Hargeon consisted of them telling how after that year and a half with strange things happening, they once again got their footing back. And even had most of the old guild members that left during the hard times return, of course they apologized a lot and swore that it would never happen again. They of course welcomed them with open arms saying that they understood that they needed to find work and make a living.

But they weren't the only people to come to Fairy Tail after they recovered and looked like they were on their way to the top once again. They got a few new and younger mages to join them who wanted to make a name for themselves and make Fairy Tail proud just like they remembered they were when they were growing up. Overall the Tenrou Group got the impression that the first three years that they were missing was really tough on the guild, but after that things got progressively better for them. So much so that apparently Fairy Tail got third place in the Grand Magic Games for the past two years, which was quite the improvement since all the years before that they never even placed.

"Juvia wants to hear more about this Grand Magic Games." she said while dragging Gajeel, with the help of Levy, off of the boat.

"I would too, because from what I could gather by what you've said so far it's a competition between all the guilds." stated Makarov as he looked at how much Hargeon had changed over the last seven years.

"It's what determines who is given the title of the strongest guild in the country." replied Droy with a smile, glad that they seemed to have been forgiven about the way they handled the whole Natsu incident. Well all except for Erza who has yet to say another word and seemed to just be constantly glaring daggers at the four of them.

"Also there is the reward of thirty million jewels that comes along with it." stated Jet with a slight smile, knowing that Erza was still glaring at him.

"Then this will be the year that Fairy Tail wins it, just think of all those jewels!" shouted Makarov with a greedy smirk spread across his face, until he noticed the disbelieving looks he was getting from his mages. "I mean think of the honor that we'll get for becoming ranked number one again." he clarified with a sheepish chuckle as a loud scoff came from their scarlet knight.

"Winning some stupid tournament doesn't prove anything about a guild and if it is actually strong or not, there is so much more to being strong than just your fighting prowess." she stated while clenching her fists in anger as she continued past them.

"I couldn't agree with you more on that one Erza." replied Gildarts with a slight grin as he followed her.

"She does have a point, Fairy Tail has never been concerned about power or meaningless titles." said Mira with her usual bright smile.

"The guild master of last year's games actually said pretty much the same things. Pointing out how the games could never show the things that he sees as true strength, such as the love and friendship that guild members share with each other. Or the courage to stand up when they see something wrong and do something about it." stated Bisca with a slight smile.

"Sounds like a guild master that knows what they're talking about." replied Makarov with his own smile as the group made their way to the train station. Not caring that pretty much everyone was staring at them and whispering about them and mainly wondering what was going on since they usually don't see that many mages from one guild in the same place.

"Which Master is it?" asked Levy, thinking it had to be one of the guilds that helped them take out Oracion Seis.

"It was Master Viridian." replied Warren as he shook his head wondering why said mage was so secretive.

"I've never heard of him before." she stated with a furrowed eyebrow.

"I haven't either, which guild are they running?" asked Mira who used to know all of the other guilds quite well due to her helping Makarov with his extra paper work.

"You wouldn't have since he only started to make the news after you all went missing. And he actually started his own guild just a few years ago that goes by Repentant Heart." he answered.

"That bunch is definitely an odd group." stated Max.

"And why do you say that?" asked Makarov now becoming quite interested in this unknown guild master.

"Well for starters most of their members are still a complete mystery as to who they actually are. And the ones that aren't, are ex-dark mages that Viridian handpicked to join his guild." he replied and with the help of everyone else they told the Tenrou Group as much as they knew about Repentant Heart which wasn't much.

"I can't believe that Angel is part of a legal guild." stated Lucy still stunned at finding that out.

"I'm more surprised that any of Oracion Seis actually did that." said Gray finding it hard to believe that Racer and Midnight are also considered light mages now.

"Most people believe that the rest of their guild except for Brain joined as well and are just choosing to keep their identities hidden." said Alzack as they finally got to the train station.

"And why didn't Brain join them?" asked Gildarts who had heard how strong the mage was and could only assume that the man would never be able to have someone else like a guild master telling him what to do.

"Let's just say that he'll never be able to harm another person again." replied Bisca with a serious expression as she went to get their tickets.

"And what does she mean by that?" asked Laxus shocking a few people since he has yet to say a single word so far, but that was mainly due to him being too sick to.

"We don't know how much of this is true since the only ones there when it happened were Viridian and Viper. But apparently Brain agreed to become a member of their guild and as soon as they were away from the Council he tried to stage an escape. And once again the details aren't really known but according to the Council's detail lacking report, Viridian and Viper easily dealt with all of them and since it was all because of Brain. Viridian executed him on the spot, right in front of the rest of them." explained Max with a neutral expression on his face.

"Oh dear." gasped Mira now with her hands covering her mouth.

"Man that seems a little extreme and I know that Brain or Zero are definitely people not to be messed around with, but still it I feel like there could have been a different solution than killing him." stated Gray as he shook his head. Remembering how strong the dark guild master was and now wondering how strong this Viridian and Viper were to be able to handle at least four of Oracion Seis by themselves.

"No kidding, but those two must be pretty manly to be able to handle them by themselves." said Elfman.

"What I want to know is why did the Council agree to hand over dark mages to just one guild like that?" asked Erza with a stern look.

"Because Viridian asked for it." replied Droy as if that should instantly clear everything up for them.

"And how does that change anything? Most guild masters would have a really hard time against just three of them, I mean they were once one of the three top guilds in the Balam Alliance." she stated while still having her stern look on her face.

"Oh we forgot to mention that he is also a Wizard Saint didn't we." he chuckled while nervously scratching the back of his head.

"That you did, but even still I don't think they would do the same thing if Master Makarov asked them." she said and the rest of the Tenrou Group couldn't help but agree with her on that.

"That would probably be because they are two completely different styles of Wizard Saints." said Bisca as she returned with their tickets and headed towards the train much to the displeasure of two dragon slayers. And the only reason that they decided to ride it was because they didn't want to miss out on any of this conversation. That was picked right back up after they took up a whole car to themselves, which happened to have no booths so they could continue talking together as one big group.

"So how are we different?" asked Makarov after everyone had found their own seat.

"Well for starters he's ranked fifth and some believe that he could actually be higher than that if they actually had them compete against each other." replied Jet, remembering the one time that he accidentally ran into the mage and could tell right away that the man was insanely powerful. But what surprised Jet even more was the fact that he actually helped him back up and apologized for bumping into him before heading off to do who knows what.

"Then there's the missions that he goes on for the Council." said Alzack, who swore that during all of last year's game the Wizard Saint spent more time looking at Fairy Tail than he did at the actual games. Normally this would have creeped him out, but after talking with Bisca about it they agreed that neither of them sensed any ill will towards them so they never brought it up to anyone else in the guild who never seemed to notice him doing that.

"And how exactly would that make him different from me since I used to do the occasional mission for them?" asked Makarov with a raised eyebrow, having a pretty good idea of what their response was going to be.

"He only seems to do the missions that they don't even classify at a level because most people would be smart enough to not ever go on them." replied Warren.

"Are you saying they are over the level of a hundred year quest?" asked Gildarts who didn't even know if that was a thing.

"No, I guess a better way of describing it would be that they are pretty much suicide missions that they don't want to risk losing any of the other Wizard Saints on if they failed. And they also seem to always end with quite a few of Viridian's enemies dying at his hands, which is why he has kept the second part of his moniker after all this time." he explained, knowing that he never wanted to be an enemy of the man.

"I just thought he was known as Viridian." stated Wendy with a confused expression.

"Nope, he was first known as Viridian Death. And that was due to all of the bodies he left behind while rescuing slaves from Bosco and all of the neighboring countries surrounding it." said Max while not looking at any of them and chose to look at the scenery outside the window.

"That makes him sound more like a dark mage if you ask me." scoffed Gray, who for reasons unknown to him somehow knew he wouldn't be able to stand this mage.

"Granted most light mages aren't able to kill as easy as him Gray, but he did only that when freeing people from a life of captivity. Or when he was dealing with dark guilds that he just happened to randomly run into during his travels. And as of now he only does it on the jobs the Council sends him on, which are supposed to be almost impossible to complete without a few people dying." stated Bisca while she was leaning against Alzack with his arm around her.

"So what type of magic does this Viridian guy use?" asked Mira since it seemed like he was an important figure of the Wizarding world and something they should know about.

"He's a fire mage that supposedly has green and can burn absolutely anything he wants them to." answered Jet, only for Erza to be right in front of him with a very intense glare being sent his way.

"Are you sure that he uses green flames?" she asked, as her mind was screaming to her that it had to be him. Even though the only time she saw him with green flames was when she was fading into unconsciousness, but it was still an image that she would never forget.

"I think so, since that's how he got the Viridian part of his name. But he definitely knows a few other types of magic and is supposed to be really good with that sword he always has on his back." he stuttered out hoping that he wasn't going to get the shit beaten out of him.

"It couldn't be him could it?" she asked herself out loud without even realizing it.

"What are you thinking Erza, have you run into a fire mage with green flames?" asked Mira who could easily see that Erza was thinking she might know who Viridian is.

"Actually I think I have and he's someone we all know." she replied with a slight smile. Not even thinking about that if she was correct about this that Natsu was now one of the strongest mages in the country who is known for killing his enemies if he needs to.

"We do?" asked Lucy in a shocked tone.

"Yeah, I think Viridian might be Natsu." she answered with a bigger smile and only got absolute silence for a few seconds. And it was only broken with a few of the guys laughing at how ridiculous that thought was to them, something that a few girls were thinking but for different reasons than the males.

"Hey, Viridian is a fire mage and the strongest one that we've ever known is Natsu." she shouted back at them with a deadly aura coming off of her now while glaring at everyone that laughed.

"Yeah but he's never had green flames and there is no way in hell he could become a Wizard Saint even with seven years to do it." replied Gray, who was a little afraid of Erza right now but it was kind of a common occurrence for him to receive a glare like this at least once a day since they were on a team together.

"That day when he saved us all from being killed the last thing I saw before passing out was green flames." she stated, which caused a few of them to start rethinking if Natsu could actually be the famous Viridian.

"Actually Gray it would be less than four years since that was when they announced to the public about Viridian becoming a Wizard Saint." pointed out Alzack with a smirk as Gray's mouth dropped open.

"Come on it couldn't be him, I mean I've never once heard about Viridian being a dragon slayer even once." stated Jet, who really didn't want Viridian to be Natsu since that would mean he literally could have pissed off one of the strongest mages in the country.

"He does have a point there, also Natsu couldn't burn anything he wanted to with his flames either." said Warren since the guild actually discussed this topic a few years ago. But it was quickly shot down since Viridian seemed like a completely different person than the Natsu they knew.

"Erza we actually discussed this earlier and unfortunately there are just too many differences between the two of them." said Bisca with a frown since she was actually on the side that thought it was him. Mainly because it would mean that he was actually fine and they could even go and visit him if they wanted to.

"Like what, because the only one I can see is that Viridian is able to kill? But that's the reason Natsu was actually kicked out of the guild in the first place and it's easier to keep doing it after your first few." she stated with a look that said she knew that from experience.

"I think we should probably hear more about this Viridian guy and then we can all decide for ourselves if we think he's Natsu or not." suggested Mira with her usual smile that was able to defuse the situation before it even became one.

"That sounds like a prudent decision, so why don't you all tell us everything that you know about this Viridian character." said Makarov as he looked at the mages that found them. The rest of the trip consisted of them learning about what Viridian has been credited to doing for the past few years. Needless to say the Tenrou Group was shocked at how much just two mages could do since they soon learned that Viper was always with Viridian no matter where he went. This is actually why the popular theory for the public is that the two of them are married and have decided to keep that a secret just like everything else in their lives.

"You do have to admit that besides the saving of countless people he doesn't really sound like Natsu that much." stated a slightly nervous Droy as he actually hid behind Levy as they exited the train.

"There is no way in hell Natsu is smart enough to even do even a fourth of those things, and he also couldn't have gotten that strong so fast." said Gray with a smug grin since he had already decided that the two were completely different people in his mind.

"I don't know, after hearing that he now has green flames I could see him doing all of that." replied Mira once again using her usual smile.

"Okay if it is him then why hasn't come back to Fairy Tail yet?" asked Jet, instantly realizing that was a really stupid mistake by him.

"Oh I don't know why, maybe because his family kicked him out when he tried to come back the first time. I know that I probably wouldn't want to come back to that again and would go back to whatever I was doing before." stated Erza as she glared at him with hatred that they usually only see her show to the ones she considers her enemies. After this he too joined Droy in hiding behind Levy, hoping that Erza wouldn't risk hurting her as she tried to get them.

"My biggest problem with Natsu being Viridian is that we don't know if he's a dragon slayer like him. It was honestly one of the things that Natsu was the proudest about along with being a mage of Fairy Tail." pointed out Lisanna with a frown. Remembering the day that he left since he no longer saw himself as one of them, and how disappointed in himself he appeared to be.

"That was one of the things Salamander took great pride in." stated Gajeel; shocking them that apparently he was able to not miss any of their conversation while he was sick on the train.

"Viridian does seem to have the same capabilities of causing mass destruction like Natsu does." said Lucy, who honestly didn't know what to think about all of this.

"Yeah but have you ever seen Natsu us a weapon even once while at the guild or on a job. Not only that but Viridian is apparently at a Master swordsman's level with his sword and Viper is supposedly the only one better than him." pointed out Max.

"That's true but seven years have passed and a person can change a lot in that time." stated Erza in a slightly sad tone.

"Yeah but there is no way that Flame Brain could have changed this much Erza just think about it. Viridian is a Wizard Saint that knows who knows how many different magic types and is apparently dating Viper. And that alone should end this discussion right there since he's too dense to ever have a girlfriend." said Gray only for him to be smashed into the ground by an iron gauntlet from an angry scarlet knight.

"Sorry Erza but that's something that I have to agree with Gray on since Natsu never seemed interested in that stuff at all before." said Mira with a knowing smile as she looked at her upset rival.

"Whatever, I still think he's Natsu." she replied as she turned away from all of them. She clearly no longer wanted to discuss this topic with any of them anymore as she took the lead of the group.

"Why don't we just go and talk to this Viridian guy and figure it out once and for all." stated Cana as she snatched back her bottle of booze from Gildarts and proceeded to start chugging it.

"Aww my sweet little girl is so smart to figure out a solution to this." cheered Gildarts as he tried to bring her into a warm and loving hug.

"Cut it out already Gildarts." she replied with a tired sigh.

"Well I for one hope it is him, because that would mean we could finally have a real fight like he's always wanted." he chuckled with a smug smile spread across his lips. While everyone else could only imagine how much damage the two would cause in having a real fight between the two of them.

"There is although one really big problem with Cana's plan." said Bisca.

"And what would that be?" asked Levy who couldn't see anything wrong with it even though it was really simple.

"Just because we know where Repentant Heart's Guild is located at doesn't mean we'll get to meet Viridian. He is usually quite busy with the jobs that the Council sends him out on. And even if he is there when we go it doesn't mean that we'll be able to have a meeting with him." she replied.

"Also even if he does see us he's usually wearing that coat that doesn't let anyone see who is actually behind it." stated Alzack.

"Well at least not for you normal mages, we dragon slayers will be able to figure out if it's Salamander in a matter of seconds." declared Gajeel proudly as he patted Wendy's head causing the girl to have a slight blush at his faith in her.

"Then that settles that, after we all get settled in we'll send a small team to go and visit Repentant Heart and figure out if Natsu is actually their Master." said Macarov as he took the lead with a big grin. "But first lets go and tell the rest of the guild the good news." he said before racing through the front doors of the guild hall with the rest letting out a cheer and charging in right after him. And just like that another infamous party of Fairy Tail started but this time easily being probably the biggest and most destructive one yet even if they were missing a dragon slayer known for being the main cause for most destruction in the guild.

 **A few hours later as the partying was still going on:**

"Wait up Erza." shouted Mira as she ran out of the guild and after the knight.

"What is it Mira?" she asked back in a slightly irritated tone as she came to a stop.

"I was just concerned since you're leaving and the partying and it isn't even close to done." stated Mira with a concerned look spread across her face.

"I don't really feel like partying when we don't really know where Natsu is or if he's okay." she replied while starting to walk again with Mira now right beside her.

"But I thought you believed he was Viridian." said Mira who could tell that Erza was really worried about him right now.

"Yeah I do but that doesn't make me feel any better, I mean you heard what the Council is having him do for them. Also there is a good chance that I'm wrong about that and I'm just hoping that it's him." responded Erza as they made their way to Fairy Hills.

"You know he wouldn't die Erza, he's way too stubborn for that." she said with a little giggle as a slight smile made its way to Erza's face.

"He is, isn't he?" stated Erza, only for her to stop and look intently at a group of people to their left but couldn't detect any sort of malice coming from them. So she was confident that they weren't enemies, but she could have sworn that someone was watching them for some time now.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that he'll eventually return to us after hearing about us not being dead anymore." she said with a bright smile.

"I hope you're right Mira." replied Erza as they once again continued to walk.

"I know he will, but just like I said last time you were waiting for him that it might take longer than you want it to." she clarified since last time Erza expected him back almost the next week.

"Or we'll find him at Repentant Heart." stated Erza with a confident smile.

"That's the spirit, well since you're fine I'm going to head back to the party and feel free to stop by later. I'm sure it's going to last well into tomorrow morning." said Mira before giving her a quick hug and heading back to the guild.

"Natsu you better still be out there." She said while looking into the distance with a sad smile.

 **Out in the middle of nowhere:**

"Thanks for letting me know, but we're still going to head to the Council and see if they have any job that I find interesting." said Natsu into a communication lacrima while having the biggest smile physically possible for him.

"Alright Master, but what do you want us to tell them if they come here looking for you?" asked the woman on the other side of the line.

"Tell them what you would tell anyone else that comes looking for any of my identities." he replied with a little chuckle.

"Are you sure?" she asked back in a shocked tone.

"Positive, now is there anything else you need to speak to me about since Kagura and I have a lot of walking ahead of us?" he asked her back.

"What about us, is it okay for us to show them our identities?" she asked in a slightly nervous tone.

"Considering that I never told any of you to hide your identities in the first place that is completely up to all of you." he answered once again with a little chuckle, clearly happy about the news he just received earlier from her.

"Alright Master, we'll see you two once you return." she said now in a happy tone.

"Sounds good and you know that you're free to call whenever you want to." he stated.

"That I do Master, goodbye then." she replied as she hung up after he said his form of goodbye back to her.

"Are you sure you don't want to go say hi to them?" asked Kagura with a smile since this was easily one of the happiest she's ever seen him.

"Positive Kagura, just knowing that they're fine is all I need. Besides I'm going to be pretty much forced to see them in three months during the Grand Magic Games." he said while incasing her in a loving embrace.

"That's a long time." she stated with a smirk as he brought her into a kiss that lasted until they both required air.

"Compared to all that time before this, then three months is nothing. Also I'm now really excited to cut loose and complete a few jobs so those old geezers will give me a break for a while." he stated with a sly grin as he separated from her and they continued to walk hand in hand towards the setting sun.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope you liked what I did here since it's quite different than what happened in canon. So as you could probably all guess the next chapter is going to cover everything up to the GMG and maybe even the beginning of them but it's hard to say. Now as you probably could see Repentant Heart is going to be mainly composed of ex-dark mages so feel free to leave me suggestions as to who you would like to see a member of their guild. So if you feel like it feel free to leave me a review or a pm and I'll get back to you when I can.**

 **Also a quick heads up on something that I'm going to do which will hopefully allow me to update these stories quicker, something that a few of you have been asking for, and if you'd like to find out what I'm planning on doing check out my profile since I don't want to waste any more of your time than I already have with this sentence here at the end.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	6. A Predictable Visit

Ch 6: A Predictable Visit

 **March 22th X791 at Aster's Train Station:**

"Are you kidding me, we actually have to wait until tomorrow if we want to leave from Aster by train?" asked Gray in complete disbelief that a place this big only had one train per day.

"Sorry Sir but that's how it has always been, there is another way for another train to pass through and that is if Master Viridian orders for one. The only other way is for the Council to declare a state of emergency and send another train to help evacuate the town." explained an elderly lady with a bright smile at the ticket booth. Not realizing that her smile was only causing Gray to become more agitated with her than he already was.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of." he declared, planning to go on a little rant but stopped when a firm hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Gray she's only doing her job." stated Erza with a stern look sent his way.

"Sorry about him, we're all just hoping to meet with Master Viridian." she continued with an apologetic smile sent to the ticket lady.

"No worries Ma'am, but I want to warn you all that Master Viridian rarely meets with a group of uninvited mages like you are." replied the ticket lady with a warm and caring smile, one that someone only gets from raising kids of their own.

"Thanks for the warning, but we already knew that before we even came here. But can I ask you how you knew we didn't have a meeting with him?" asked Erza as she inquisitively looked at the older lady.

"Well for starters he rarely meets anyone that randomly shows up at his guild, and I know that since I've been working here well before he set up a shop here. And the second reason was that you said you were hoping to see him, if you had a scheduled meeting with him then you wouldn't have said that. You'd be amazed with how much you can find out if you actually listen to what people say or how they say it." she explained with a smug little grin that caused Erza to smile back at her.

"I can see that, I'll have to choose my words more carefully from now on. And since you've been here so long would you mind directing us to his guild? Even if we don't get to see him we'd like to at least see his guild hall and maybe talk to some of his members." said Erza still smiling at the woman.

"You're actually the first one to ask me right away for directions, most of his visitors head into town thinking that it's going to be obvious to locate. Only for them to come back here and ask me since they are too ashamed to ask a random citizen, or the few that they did ask turned them down since they know that Repentant Heart likes their privacy." she responded with a little snicker.

"I'm confident that I could find their guild." stated Gajeel with a confident grin. Wendy on the other hand didn't seem too confident about being able to track down the guild hall; her main concern was she did not know any of the scents of its members.

"Every other group was just as confident, but each time they eventually had to ask someone else for help." she stated as she went back to whatever she had on her desk and started to hum a little tune to herself.

"Does that mean you won't tell me?" asked Erza, ready to lay into Gajeel if they now had to try and find the place on their own. Since that would mean they have less time to see if her hunch about Viridian is correct, which she was really hoping turned out to be the case.

"Nope, their guild hall is the mansion on the cliff edge on the other side of the town. It's really hard to miss, but if you didn't know it's their guild hall than you would have assumed it to just be some rich guy's second home." she answered with a bright smile before going back to humming and writing something down.

"Thank you Ma'am." said Erza while giving a small bow. With her now having a destination, she quickly turned around and took the lead of their little group with a small smile coming over her face. Thinking that she was soon going to be seeing Natsu shortly and getting him to go back with them to Fairy Tail where he belonged.

"Don't thank me just yet young lady, most mages that go there don't find what they expect to." she mumbled to herself with a slight frown. As she remembered all the other mages that came here in the hopes of joining the guild, only to be turned down without a very good explanation other than Viridian saying that they wouldn't work out.

 **A few minutes later in the center of town:**

"Wow it's just like a smaller version of Magnolia." stated Lucy as she and everyone else took notice of how friendly everyone was.

"No it's worse, the people here are somehow nicer." grumbled Gajeel, only to receive an elbow to the gut from Levy.

"How is that worse?" she asked while giving him a little glare.

"You do realize that some people don't want to always be bothered by other people seeing how their day is going. Not to mention that I never trust a place where the vendors are actually comfortable with leaving their stalls unattended." he replied while pointing to a fish stand that happened to have no one behind it, which is a terrible mistake to make when a certain blue Exceed is in the area.

"I don't know why that is a bad thing?" asked Happy with drool dripping out of his mouth as he was about to dig in on the feast laid out before him. That is until he felt a menacing aura right behind him, one that he and Natsu felt countless times before they were about to do something idiotic.

"HAPPY YOU WEREN'T ABOUT TO STEAL THOSE FISH WERE YOU? BECAUSE I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT NATSU AND LISANNA TAUGHT YOU BETTER THAN THAT." said Erza as she glared at the poor little Exceed, who was now visibly shaking as he put the fish back.

"Aye Sir!" he stuttered out. Then he quickly flew to Wendy who was ready to hug him until he was back to his cheerful self, which would probably only take a minute or two.

"That is really odd though." stated Levy as she noticed a few other stands completely unattended with what appeared to be expensive items out, easy for the taking. But it also seemed like that was the last thought on any of the citizen's minds.

"Their crime rate can't be that low can it?" asked Gray, only to then realize that the people he just asked were just as clueless as him.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think I'll be able to answer that question for you." said a man from behind a fruit cart.

"See what I'm talking about, no town should be this helpful to strangers. I mean for all he knows I could be a psychopath that plans to go on a murdering rampage here." said Gajeel with a sneer, this time stopping Levy before she could start hitting him for saying such things.

"You guys aren't, are you?" the vendor asked back in a slightly scared tone.

"Of course we're not." declared Lucy as she glared at Gajeel for putting such ideas into the man's head. His response to her glare was just a little chuckle as he picked Levy up by the back of her dress, effectively making her unable to hit him anymore or even touch the ground.

"Well that's good to hear." replied the man as he smiled at Levy trying to get out of Gajeel's grasp, all the while shouting at him and trying to hide her growing blush.

"You see most vendors and all of the citizens don't have to be concerned about such things as petty theft thanks to Repentant Heart." he clarified as he started to slice up one of his fruits.

"A single guild couldn't police a city this big, especially if it's as small as I hear Repentant Heart is supposed to be." stated Erza, who liked the idea of not having to worry about things like that. But she was starting to grow a little suspicious since it all seemed too good to be true after everything that she's seen from the rest of the world.

"You'd be correct about that my Ma'am, which is why no one from the guild even tries to patrol the city or anything like that." he replied as he continued to cut up the piece of fruit into smaller pieces.

"But you just said earlier that there is no theft here because of them." said Wendy with a confused look on her adorable face.

"He did Wendy, but he never specified how they accomplished that." pointed out Carla from Wendy's right shoulder.

"You're so smart and beautiful Carla, do you want a fish?" asked Happy with a huge smile from Wendy's other shoulder.

"For the last time Tom Cat I don't want your fish." replied Carla while turning her head away from him. She effectively shut down the blue Exceed before he was even able to get one of his fish out from his green knapsack.

"The white cat is correct, but it is probably more accurate to say that our lack of crime here is mainly thanks to Master Varidian. Oh and feel free to try a sample if you want, it just so happens to be one of his favorite fruits to buy from me when he passes by." said the fruit salesmen with a bright smile directed at the group of Fairy Tail mages as he held out a tray of the green and red fruit he had just been cutting moments ago.

"And how do we know you aren't trying to poison us?" asked Gray as he looked at the man with an accusing glare.

"You lot are definitely cautious ones aren't you?" he asked back, still smiling as he threw one of the pieces into his mouth to show that they were fine.

"See, nothing wrong with them. I was just seeing if I could possibly get a few new customers if I offered a few samples." explained the vendor as he held the tray out to them again.

The Fairy Tail mages all looked at each other to see if any of them had any objections to the offer, but seeing as they had none they decided to take him up on it. But it would appear that one of them had already decided that for himself since he was denied the fish that he wanted to eat earlier. "Wow guys you should really try this, it's delicious!" cheered Happy as he started to grab more of the samples and throw them into his mouth.

"Happy you're only supposed to take one." scolded Wendy with a little smile as she decided to grab a piece before they were all gone. That was the same thought that everyone else of their group had at the moment, resulting in the man now holding an empty tray.

"No worries little Lady, they were meant for others to enjoy. So what do you all think of my Viridian fruit, named of course after one of my best customers?" he asked with a look of apprehension as he looked at the group eating his fruit.

"This is like…" started Lucy, but was cut off by Levy. "It tastes similar to a strawberry!" she shouted in a shocked tone since the fruit looked nothing like a strawberry. Before it was cut up for them it looked like an red eggplant that had green blotches randomly scattered all over it, needless to say it definitely didn't look particularly appetizing while in that form.

"Not just like a strawberry, I'd have to say it's way better than a strawberry." declared Gray, as everyone looked at him in horror. At first he didn't understand why they were looking at him like that, that is until he remembered who was standing to his right and had a severe obsession with strawberry cheesecake.

So they all waited to see how Erza would react to such a bold statement, the vendor was smart enough to remain quiet after seeing their reaction and how they were all now looking at the red head. From what they could tell by her facial expressions, she was having an internal conflict of an epic proportion. That most of them believed to be how she planned to finish off their ice mage for saying such blasphemy in front of her of all people.

"I'd have to say…" said Erza still with an expressionless look on her face. "That I completely agree with you Gray and my only question is how much do they cost? Oh and how well do they travel, actually I also need to know how long they keep before going bad?" she asked with possibly the happiest smile that any of them have ever seen on her as she now stood right in front of the vendor.

"Whew, I thought Gray was dead for sure." whispered Lucy as Erza and the man were discussing the fruit and how she could get in Magnolia.

"You and me both Lucy, but it's nice to see that she can think about other things than Viridian possibly being Flame Brain." stated Gray with a relieved look on his face, knowing that if Erza hadn't liked the fruit she probably would have beat him senseless for it. But upon the mention of Natsu, even though it was one of Gray's nicknames for him, she once again got back into business mode.

"Sorry but we'll have to finish this later sir, but first we have to go and see if we can meet with Master Viridian." she stated, once again having a stern look wash over her face.

"No problems Miss. Scarlet, I'll be here at most times of the day so we can work out how much you want whenever you have some free time." he replied while giving them a quick wave as they started to walk away.

 **Meanwhile at Repentant Heart:**

"So they've finally decided to pay us a visit." said Cobra with a huge smirk spread across his lips as his fellow guild members looked up at him with a questioning look. He was currently at the top of the stairs in front of a huge window that looked over the city of Aster below them. This was also the main room of Repentant Heart, which had been converted from the giant ballroom it was before into something that somewhat resembled Fairy Tail's main room in their guildhall.

"And who exactly is paying us a visit this time Cobra?" asked Midnight as he put down the book that he was reading.

"Come on man, who else would I even feel the need to announce coming here." he replied as he went to grab his cloak from beside the front door. The cloak was nothing special, its main color was black and outlined in green with the only other thing setting it apart from other cloaks being their green emblem on the back of it.

"Of course they decided to come when the people who would actually like to see them aren't even here." commented Angel from the top of the stairs, now wearing a similar outfit to what she wore during the Nirvana incident. Except for the white was replaced with black and the blue was switched with green since that was the unofficial colors of the guild.

"So what do we plan to do about this?" asked a cloaked figure who was floating in the middle of the main room that they were currently gathered in.

"Well Whirlwind, we are each able to choose for ourselves if we want to reveal who we are. But the one thing that none of us will do is reveal any of the other members, which goes double for Master Viridian and Viper." stated Midnight with a stern look directed at the floating figure.

"Oh come on Midnight, do you always have to be such a party pooper?" taunted Angle as she leaned against the railings at the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes I do, or did you happen to forget what the consequences are for all of us if we ruin what we have going here? I for one don't want to ever be on the receiving end of his wrath again." he replied before walking away from the small gathering that was going on in the main room.

"He takes everything so seriously, doesn't he realize that Master Viridian doesn't care if we have a little fun as long as no one gets hurt?" she asked while looking over to a now cloaked Cobra.

"He does, but you can't really blame him since he now sees himself as the unofficial leader of those of us from Oracion Seis after Brain was put down. And along with that he feels responsible for all of us as well and doesn't want to see any of us go through something like that again." explained Cobra, and if he wasn't wearing his cloak they all would have noticed the slight shiver run through him when he mentioned what happened to Brain.

"That is the last thing any of us would ever want to go through again and besides, Viridian told us that he would warn us if he thought any of us were straying too far from the path. And I'd actually even go so far as to say he sees most of us as his family." she said with a slight smile.

"He does actually…" replied Cobra with a slight smile that they could just barely make out from behind his hood.

"But that doesn't mean he wouldn't turn on all of us if he believed it to be the correct decision. Midnight knows this, which is why he plans to never let it get to that point." he finished with a grim look coming over his face.

Before anyone could say anything else their doors were thrown open as a blur came flying in only to come screeching to a halt in the middle of all them. The man had a mixture of blond and black hair, with the blond being his eyebrows and a strip down the center of his head. His outfit was a skin tight black one piece that is colored just like Angel's, its only other color was the green lines that gave it a little flare. "You guys are never going to guess who I saw in town heading our way!" said Sawyer as he looked at all of them, expecting for them to be slightly interested which they were anything but.

"Damn you dragon slayers and your enhanced senses." he mumbled while walking past Cobra and hitting him on the shoulder. He now decided that he might as well take a seat in one of the comfy chairs that were on the sides so he'd have a good spot to watch the show that was going to be starting soon.

"Any time Racer." chuckled Cobra as he took the chair next to the man.

"For the last time I don't go by that name anymore." stated Sawyer with a slight sneer as the rest chuckled at him. It was a little running joke in their guild, because he couldn't seem to get any other nicknames to stick after not hiding his identity to the rest of the country.

"Well then you probably shouldn't have revealed yourself to the whole world then." stated a new cloaked figure that literally came out of a shadow in the corner.

"I don't want to hear that coming from someone who decided to go by Shadow. Isn't that a little on the nose Shadow?" he asked while emphasizing the word Shadow both times.

"I will admit it is, but please explain how Speedster or even Racer is any different?" the cloaked figure asked back with an amused tone to his voice.

"Just shut up okay, that along with all of my other names are never going to stick with everyone already calling me Racer." mumbled Racer as he sprawled out sideways on the chair, with his feet dangling to one of the sides.

"Now that is something that I never expected to hear from you Sawyer. And was there some sort of meeting that I wasn't informed about?" asked a feminine voice from the upper level as she came down one of the side stairs that fed into the main one. She was wearing a cloak like half of the current members in the main room, but she chose to have her hood down currently which allowed her long pink hair to glisten in the sun light.

Sawyer just scoffed at her as he readjusted himself into the optimal sitting position on his chair. "No you didn't miss a meeting Ikaruga, we're all just gathered here right now thanks to our soon to be guests." said Angel with a bright smile, who after joining up with Repentant Heart realized she enjoyed having other women around more than she would ever admit to anyone else.

"Who's visiting?" asked a cute little voice from the side of Ikaruga. Where there was now a little green haired girl holding her hand, while dressed in a frilly black and white dress. She was also wearing a small black leather jacket on top of it, which was one of her most prized possessions.

"Well Nanako, some friends of your dad are going to be stopping by any time now. So you're going to have to refer to him like you do when you're out in public." she explained as the two came down the stairs.

"But you just said they're his friends." replied Nanako with a confused expression.

"They're the ones that we all thought were dead until a few days ago, so you don't want to ruin your dad's chance at surprising them now do you Nanako?" she asked with a small smile, as the little girl smiled back up at her.

"You can count on me, I'll only call him and mom by their other names." declared Nanako with a determined look as she held up a clenched little fist.

"We know you will darling, so what Fairies are actually stopping by?" asked Ikaruga as she watched Angel pick up Nanako and they started to converse with each other.

"Open the door and you'll find out." stated Cobra right before they heard a loud knock come from the front door. All of them looking at each other and wondering who would be the brave soul to open up their doors to people that each of them had actually fought as enemies the last time they met.

"I got it!" cheered Nanako as she took off for the doors since she saw no one else going for them. And before any of them could tell her to stop she was already at them and slowly opening up the large door.

 **Earlier outside:**

"Damn, this place sure is fancy for being a guildhall." stated Gajeel as he and everyone else inspected the grounds that belonged to Repentant Heart.

"This place is almost as fancy as my family's estate." said Lucy with a small whistle, thinking that there is no way Fairy Tail could ever have a place like this due to their constant brawls and destructive tendencies.

"So do you really think you would have been able to lead us here Gajeel?" asked Levy with a large grin as she looked up at him, and all he could do was start mumbling to himself about who knows what.

"Can either of you smell him here?" asked Erza as she looked at the two dragon slayers expectantly.

"I can't smell Salamander at all…" replied Gajeel, causing Erza to look completely crestfallen. "But that doesn't mean he still isn't Viridian like you think he is. A person's scent can change a lot within seven years, not to mention that since he's a dragon slayer he knows a few ways to get rid of his scent." he stated, because even he didn't like seeing her like that.

"What about you Wendy, you haven't said anything?" asked Lucy with a smile as she turned to look at the younger dragon slayer. She was slightly surprised with the expression that Wendy currently had on, which was on of shock and skittishness.

"Wendy are you alright?" she asked no longer smiling and now only concerned about the youngest member of their little group if you excluded the Exceeds.

"They're all actually here." she stated now looking as if she could barely believe it.

"Who are you talking about Wendy?" asked Carla as she patted the young girl's leg in a comforting manner.

"Oracion Seis, well actually they all aren't currently here right now. But I can tell that even Richard has been here within the last week." she answered, not knowing what to think about a whole dark guild now being under the same roof of a legal guild.

"We knew before coming here that it was definitely a possibility." stated Gray who seemed fine with it shockingly.

"Well since it seems that you two aren't much of a help we should probably go and knock." stated Erza in a slightly harsher tone than she probably meant to, not noticing the hurt look that Wendy had after hearing that. That is at least what Carla was telling the poor girl as they continued on to the manor with Erza up front.

"I just know that he's here." she quietly said to herself as she grabbed the large knocker and swung it against the door twice. Leaving all of them to wait there quietly for a few moments for someone to come and answer the door, none of them ready for who would actually opened the door for them.

"Hi, my name's Nanako! What can I help you with?" asked Nanako as she smiled at all of the stunned Fairy Tail mages before her. All of whom seemed to have lost their voices right then, looking at this little girl as if she was the strangest thing in the world that any of them have ever seen.

"Is this the guild hall of Repentant Heart Nanako?" asked Erza, while thinking that the old hag at the train station was just messing with them. And if she was, Erza planned on going back there and teaching her what the consequences are for doing such a thing to her.

"Yep, we're the number one guild in the country!" she replied with a big smile while pushing the door open further for them. That action allowed all of them to see into the main room that had a few banners with Repentant Heart's emblem hanging on the walls. It not only allowed them see that but it also let them see a few of the members that were gathered there and looking out at them without saying anything.

"Do you want to come in?" asked Nanako with a puzzled look on her face. Since most times when she answered the door the people were more eager to enter than this, because right now the mages of Fairy Tail just stood there completely surprised at finding a little girl at the guildhall were known ex-dark mages reside.

"Well this is one for the history books, Fairy Tail mages are too stunned to even speak." giggled Angel as she came up behind Nanako.

"I'll say, I've dreamed of seeing a face like that on Titania for years now. But to think that our little Nanako here would be the one to do it before I even had the chance to." said Ikaruga with a devious smirk as she picked up Nanako and positioned her on her left side.

"You're a member as well!" replied Erza in disbelief. If you had told her to pick out ten dark mages that she thought could possibly be members of Repentant Heart, she would have never picked Ikaruga in a million years.

"That I am Titania, and it seems like you haven't even aged a day since the last time we crossed blades." she stated while still smirking at all of them. But before any of them could speak up a certain little girl got everyone's attention.

"You two dueled each other?" asked Nanako while fidgeting excitedly around in Ikaruga's grasp.

"That we did, and she was actually the first person to ever beat me." she answered with an amused grin making its way across her face. The little green haired girl now looked back at Erza with wide eyes and her mouth now hanging wide open.

"Does that mean she's as strong as mommy and daddy?" she asked while still keeping her eyes on Erza. This question caused the two women of Repentant Heart to break into uproarious laughter, which caused a certain red head to start grinding her teeth in frustration.

"And why is it that question so funny to you two?" asked Lucy as she mainly glared at Angel. Since the last time she saw said woman, she treated her celestial spirits as if they were nothing more than tools to be thrown away when she saw fit.

"They find it so funny because Nanako's parents are Master Viridian and Mistress Viper." replied Racer from inside the guildhall.

"Oh and you are all welcome to come in and say hi to the rest of us." he said in a bored tone since he was expecting a fight to break out by now. But then again that might have only really happened before when Fairy Tail had a certain fire dragon slayer in their ranks.

"You've gotta be kidding, how doesn't the rest of the country not know about her?" asked Levy as she stared at Nanako. The only reason that she was so shocked about all of this was because after their return celebration, she spent the rest of her time until they came here looking up everything that she could on the guild and more specifically Viridian and Viper. And after combing through all of reports and articles about them it was still unknown if the two were even together, let alone them actually having a daughter together.

"Because most of the time we don't have an idiot shouting out who her parents are." replied Angel as she glared at Racer, who just chuckled at her and waved his hand dismissively.

"Oh come on, they're not going to go around and tell people about all of this. I mean they would have a better chance of surviving a gun going off in their mouths then doing something that could possibly hurt Viridian's little brat." he said with a smirk.

"I'm not a little brat Speedster!" shouted Nanako as she glared at him.

"Then prove it." he stated with his smirk growing ever so slightly. Only for everyone to watch him flip off of the chair as small green vines shot out of the floor and tried to ensnare him. The vines didn't stop with just that; they continued to chase after him as he kept jumping around the place while chuckling the entire time.

"Get back here and fight me you coward!" she yelled at him with a huge smile on her face as she chased him into one of the side rooms. Needless to say all of the Fairy Tail mages that actually knew Racer before this were shocked to see him actually playing around with the little girl like that.

"Well now that those two are gone we should be able to have a normal conversation." stated the cloaked figure that until just moments ago had Racer sitting next to him. This snapped the Fairy Tail mages once again out of their shock and brought all of their attention to him.

"And who exactly are you?" asked Erza as she glared at him and then the two other members of Repentant Heart who were also in cloaks. One of whom was actually floating in the middle of the room just above their heads while the other one was on the other side of the room leaning against the wall.

"I'm a member of Repentant Heart Titania, which is all you need to know." he answered in an amused tone, enjoying how much this was annoying the woman now staring at him.

"C-cobra is that you?" asked a nervous Wendy as she looked at him from behind Erza, making sure that if it was him and he didn't like being found out she had someone to rely on.

"I completely forgot that we had that little run in with each other Sky Maiden. That was over seven years ago for me, but it was only just a few months for you so of course you still remember my scent." replied Cobra as he pulled down his cloak. Revealing to all of them that confident grin he had, which could put almost anyone on edge just from seeing it.

"So this is the only other second generation dragon slayer besides Laxus." stated Gajeel as he came up to the front and gave Wendy a reassuring pat on the head.

"The only one that all of you know of at least." pointed out Angel as she took a seat at one of the tables. And she was soon followed by Ikaruga who just like the other two seemed to be really enjoying all of this.

"Why don't you all take a seat, unless you enjoy standing around with those stupid expressions on your faces every time a new piece of information is revealed." said the sword mistress as she motioned for them to join her and Angel at the table.

"Might as well, we did come here to get answers." replied Levy with a bright smile, she was able to smile like that since she was fortunate enought to never have to face off and fight against any of these people for her life like most of Team Natsu did.

"She's right." stated Erza as she took the spot across from Ikaruga.

"Now we would like some answers about this guild of yours and more specifically your Master." she said while looking the pink haired woman straight in the eyes with a determined look.

"And I want to be the Queen of Fiore, but unfortunately for the both of us I really don't think either of those two things are going to happen." replied Ikaruga with a smug smirk. As most of the other Fairy Tail members finally sat down, all of them wishing that they hadn't since this was already clearly not going as they planned. But to their surprise Erza didn't seem too upset about being completely shot down like that.

"So you're saying that you won't tell us anything?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Depends on what you want to know, most visitors we get coming here are trying to join us or find out more about Master Viridian. And for both of those instances they always leave disappointed." answered Angel with a bright smile that seemed out of place on her.

"We happen to be here for the second reason." she stated still with a very calm demeanor.

"Then you're going to leave here disappointed just like everyone else that came here before you with the same intentions." said Cobra.

"Well that's where you're wrong, we are not going to leave until we find out exactly what we want to." she replied in a commanding tone, finally letting her calm façade drop as her magic flare up.

"You'd be wise to stop Titania before we decide to no longer treat all of you like our guests." stated Ikaruga without even flinching at the other woman's display of power.

"I've had it with you, we've beaten all of you before and we'll do it again!" shouted Erza as she pushed back the chair that she used to be sitting on and drew her sword. But as she took one step forward, she and the rest of the Fairy Tail mages collapsed to their knees while clutching their chests and trying to catch their breaths.

"Sorry Fairies, but I will not allow you to attack any of my fellow guild members while I'm present." came the voice of the man who had up till this point remained completely silent while floating in the air above. Wendy due to her being a sky dragon slayer could see that the man was siphoning all the oxygen away from them, thus why they were having such trouble breathing.

"Whirlwind, that's enough and you know we don't need your help with them." said Angel as she glared up at him. The members of Fairy Tail could instantly feel themselves slightly regaining their breaths, but they could still tell that he was still keeping it going ever so slightly to keep them inline.

"Of course I know that, I did this so the Fairies could still remain unharmed since we all know how upset Master Viridian and the rest of them would be if they found out a fight broke out between us." replied Whirlwind as he floated down to land in the middle of the table.

"Just so you all know you're only still alive right now because of what Master Viridian has done more for me and everyone else here, he has done more than everyone else in the world has for us. The old me would have killed you as soon as you all walked in here, thinking you deserve an explanation about us. Let me fill you in on something you might not realize, you all might have been a big deal seven years ago, but right now just a single one of us is more than enough to deal with all of you like I just did." he continued with a clearly upset tone as he glared at them and none of the Fairy Tail mages could argue against him. And with a final scoff Whirlwind evaporated right in front of them to end up who knows where.

"I'll go and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." stated the figure in the corner before sinking into a shadow and zipping out of the room.

"I honestly think that's the most I've heard out of him in the last week." said Cobra with a sly grin as the two female members of his guild nodded their heads in agreement.

"What in the world did he even do to us?" asked Gray, hoping to try and get past the awkward silence and start a conversation.

"He was removing the oxygen from the air around all of us, and if he had wanted to he would have been able to kill us all before we even knew what was going on." replied Wendy with a concerned look, knowing that the man that had just left was probably the strongest wind mage she's ever seen or heard of. Being able to control the air to only steal the oxygen from just the members of Fairy Tail is no easy feat to say the least, making her want to find out more about this mysterious guild and its members.

"Well aren't you the observant little girl, and I don't think we've had the pleasure to meet yet." said Ikaruga with sly grin spread across her lips as she held out her hand for Wendy to shake. Wendy with a small smile reached out to take it, thinking that she would have never guessed that they used to be dark mages by how they currently were treating them. Well if you excluded the whole Whirlwind choking all of them that is.

"Don't shake her hand Wendy!" commanded Erza, scaring the poor little just before their hands would have met.

"Just because the rest of the country is convinced that they aren't a threat doesn't mean we should trust them anymore than we would have before." she continued while glaring at the other swords woman across from her.

After hearing this Ikaruga pulled back her hand and for the briefest second you could see a look of hurt wash over her face. But it was then gone and replaced with her usual smirk that was already getting under Erza's skin quite effectively at the moment. "Actually the rest of the Fiore still sees us as nothing more than a bunch of criminals, it's why some of us still keep our identities hidden. At least that way the common folk can pretend that we aren't ex-dark mages and treat us like any other mage that just saved their lives." she replied while staring directly back into Erza's deep brown eyes.

"Let's not forget a large portion of them are just waiting for Master Viridian to put us down." said Angel with a sad little smile. That made most of their visitors to start feeling bad for them, especially a certain dragon slayer who went through something similar when he joined Fairy Tail.

"You're actually forgetting the best parts Angel, like when some of our clients believed they could claim outrageous accusations about us. All in the hopes that Master Viridian would be forced to kill us, but man were they all in for a shock." stated Cobra as he started to chuckle and his other two members joined in.

"What did he do?" asked Levy and Lucy at the same time. They both couldn't stop themselves due to their curious natures and thirst for any new information that they could get on the man.

"It really depended on what they claimed we did." he replied in between the last of his chuckles.

"One woman claimed that Whirlwind destroyed all of her family's crops, which was a pretty stupid lie since anyone could tell he didn't." said Angel with a big grin.

"Well Master Viridian decided to pay them a visit and have a few words with them. Afterwards, all of their fields were burnt down with nothing remaining except for ash." she finished and was then rewarded by looks of horror from most of their guests.

"Calm your jets, Master Viridian paid double of what the crops would have gotten if they had sold them at market for top quality." stated Ikaruga while shaking her head and still grinning at the memory.

"Well that was nice of him, but I don't really understand why he did that." said Lucy with a perplexed look.

"Oh it was anything but nice, the fields that he burnt down still can't grow anything on them and it happened over two years ago. And from what I've heard they won't be able to for at least ten more years after what Viridian did to them." responded Cobra with a wicked grin on his face, as Gajeel couldn't help but grin likewise. Since it's similar to what he would have done to someone if he was in Viridian's shoes.

"That's terrible!" she stated with a look of disgust.

"Master Viridian asked them to tell the truth and stop spreading rumors, but they were stubborn and refused to listen to him. So he decided that if they were going to spread rumors he might as well make them true, it was actually a really good warning for anyone else thinking of doing something similar." explained Angel.

"There had to be a better way to resolve all of that other than destroying their livelihood." she argued back with a determined look.

"That's easy for you to say when you've never been looked down on, while all you're trying to do is make up for your past wrongs." said Midnight as he entered the room while heading straight for the exit.

"I bet if you talked with all of your guild mates that didn't go missing, they would completely understand since Fairy Tail used to be the laughing stock of Fiore after you all disappeared. But I could be wrong since you guys are once again in the top five guilds in the country, and most people try to forget the terrible times as if they never happened." he finished before exiting through the front doors. Successfully shocking most of the Fairy Tail mages into silence and then giving them something to really think on.

"So yeah Master Viridian probably could have gone about it differently, but after constantly getting similar false reports he was done. So he decided to let the whole country know that he wasn't going to allow it any longer and did a few similar things until everyone got the hint." continued Ikaruga, deciding to break the silence that temporarily came over them.

"And the Council was completely fine with him doing all of that?" asked Erza with a skeptical look. Only for the three Repentant Heart members to burst into laughter that they luckily got under control before she exploded on them, which would have most likely ended with the Scarlet haired knight being severely injured.

"The Council is completely behind Master Viridian and whatever he does when he's not working for them. They kind of have to be if they still want him doing all those jobs for them, not to mention he's also in charge of all of us." answered Cobra as he gestured to their guild hall and the current members gathered there.

"It definitely wouldn't look good if the Council didn't support the man that is in charge of a large group of ex-dark mages." said Ikaruga with a smirk as she looked at Erza.

"Was that the worst thing he ever did to a client that lied about your guild?" asked Gray, who realized they could gain a better idea of the man if they continued on like they were.

"That depends on who you ask; he has beaten and threatened a few of them until they finally told the truth. Something that I'm sure you Fairies look down on, but if are you asking if he's killed any of them?" she said with her smirk becoming more sinister by the second as they all waited for her to finish.

"Then unfortunately he hasn't, even if some of them deserved, he says that he will only do it when there is no other option for him." she finished, knowing that most of them believed that there is never a time when such an action should be done.

"I've got a question for you three, what's the worst thing he's done while on a job for the Council or from his earlier days?" asked Gajeel, who was obviously thinking the same as Gray on all of this.

"From his earlier days I'd have to say wiping out that whole organization of Slavers is probably it. Three years of hunting down and killing all the slavers that were part of it is definitely a grizzly job that most people couldn't do." replied Angel with a bored expression now coming over her face.

"As for working with the Council that probably goes to the Minstrel Massacre." answered Ikaruga with a slight frown.

"What in the world was he doing in Minstrel, and how did it turn into a massacre?" asked Levy before the rest of her group could even get a single word out.

"It's a really long story that I don't know if we should really tell." she replied while looking at her two guild mates. Angel clearly didn't want to be the one to continue on with the story since she happened to find her hands very interesting at the moment, while Cobra just looked indifferent.

"It couldn't have been that bad if he's still a Wizard Saint." stated Gray, hoping that one of them would fill them in even if it looked like it wasn't going to be a very good tale.

"Oh it's worse than what you're all probably thinking right now, but not because of Master Viridian doing something terrible." said Cobra as he got up from his chair.

"To put it simply the worst case scenario happened that day and he was unfortunately in the dead center of it." he finished while now going up the stairs to the second level.

"What exactly happened?" asked Lucy since she could see they weren't going to get a response from them if they didn't keep pushing for it.

"Since you guys were gone for the past seven years you probably don't know that a year after you vanished a Civil War broke out in Minstrel. And it was an extremely brutal one that will leave scars on the country for years to come since it's still not resolved yet." he said while standing on the landing in front of the window.

"Wait a minute, why did you say was if the war is still going on now?" asked Erza with a stern look directed his way.

"Because our involvement in it is done after what happened that day and they have requested for it to remain as such, unless Fiore wants to be publicly declared as an enemy of Minstrel." he explained with a slight frown.

"Since I already know that all of you just want to find out more information about this I might as well do it now. The Council sent Master Viridian as their emissary in the hopes of working out some sort of peace treaty between the two sides. Honestly it wasn't that bad of an idea to send the Wizard Saint that almost has as much notoriety as the top four and is known for not dealing with any bullshit." he finished with a long sigh.

"So what went wrong?" asked Wendy with a concerned expression.

"Both sides thought that they could use this meeting to take out the leaders of their opposition in one fell swoop. But as you could probably guess it was prevented by Master Viridian, which in turn caused the shit to hit the fan as both sides erupted into chaos. And of course they both did the dumbest thing possible and attacked Master Viridian since they both thought he was helping the other side. Needless to say it ended with both sides losing enough for it to become known as the Minstrel Massacre." he answered before leaving the main room to go do something else.

"So you're saying that Viridian was able to take on two armies completely by himself?" asked Gray with skepticism lacing his every word.

"We said no such thing, he was unfortunately caught in between two armies that didn't count him on either of their sides. That allowed him to use the chaos to his advantage as he tried to stop all of it, which only happened after he lost his cool and started to destroy anyone that stood in his way." replied Ikaruga with a serious expression.

"According to the rumors he was responsible for over sixty percent of the deaths that day, which is still the bloodiest day of the whole war." stated Angel, who also had a serious expression on her face. And the next few moments they all sat in silence as the Fairy Tail members all tried to comprehend what they were just told.

"And that's why you don't call me brat anymore." declared a happy Nanako from atop of Racer's shoulders as the two entered the room again.

"We'll see about that little Missy, I'm confident you just got lucky with that last move of yours." he said with a little chuckle as he looked up at her.

"Sounds like a terrible excuse of a loser if you ask me." she replied with a huge grin spread across her face.

"Why's it so quiet in here, I thought Fairies were known for causing trouble wherever they go?" she asked while looking at all of them with a confused look on her face.

"We don't always cause chaos!" declared Lucy with serious look that only lasted a little bit as she stared back at the little girl. Who was now looking at her with an expression that said you can't honestly believe that, after which Lucy and a few of the other members of Fairy Tail started to laugh with Nanako about it.

"It seems like our reputation as troublemakers is still going strong." said Levy with a little smirk, glad that they moved on from their previous topic.

"We do seem to always be in the center of most situations that make the headlines." stated Wendy with a bright smile.

"Yeah we are, but every time that we are Flame Brain is leading the charge." pointed out Gray with a slight frown.

"Still calling him that after all these years?" asked Angel with a small smile.

"You do realize that it's only been about a month for them." informed Ikaruga with small smile making its way across her face.

"Do you know where he's at?" asked Happy with an expectant look on his adorable blue face.

"Happy!" cheered Nanako as she tackled the poor exceed off of the table and onto the ground as she continued to hug him.

"She really likes cats." stated Racer as the rest of the Fairy Tail members looked at them skeptically after seeing how excited the little girl was at finally seeing the Exceed.

"Sure she does." replied Erza as she was about to start arguing with them about what she thought was an obvious lie.

"Isn't that friend of yours the same Erza, I think her name is Millianna?" asked Ikaruga once again having that smug little smirk of hers.

"Yes she does and if you do anything to harm her I don't care if you're supposedly a legal mage now." she growled out while glaring at the other swords woman. "Also how did she know his name if she only is just a huge fan of cats?" she stated with a smug grin coming over her face as she believed to have caught them in their own lies.

"Who doesn't know about Happy, he was the faithful partner of Salamander before he went missing with the rest of you." replied Nanako as she continued to hug Happy like a teddy bear.

"Did he come with you guys too?" she asked while looking around for the famous dragon slayer. She noticed the look of hurt go across all of the Fairy Tail members as they heard her ask that question, all except for one who was still confident she was correct about her assumption.

"Okay, I can see I'm just going to have to come out and just ask it." declared Erza as she looked at the three members of Repentant Heart and Nanako.

"Is Master Viridian actually Natsu Dragneel?" she asked while intently looking at all of their reactions to her question. Unfortunately for her they didn't react like she wanted them to, some of them actually looked amused by her guess.

"Do you really think that any of us would follow an idiot like him." replied Angel with an amused smirk that irritated all of their guests since she was pretty much making fun of Natsu.

"Not just that, but you actually believe that Salamander is capable of becoming a Wizard Saint in such a short amount of time?" asked Racer who didn't seem as amused by the question as the other two.

"Yes I do, and considering that he helped defeat all of you and even took out stronger opponents than you by himself it doesn't seem too farfetched in my opinion. Also I think he is the only one dumb enough to give you all a second chance at making up for your past mistakes. And if he isn't then why don't you just tell us so we can be off and not bother you any longer than we already have?" answered Erza with a confident tone to her voice.

"Even if we told you that he wasn't, I know for a fact that you wouldn't believe us and keep believing what you want to. That stubbornness of yours Erza is definitely going to get you into a lot of trouble sooner or later." said Ikaruga with a knowing look.

"No I wouldn't." she declared once again glaring at Ikaruga with a look that could almost kill.

"Fine, Natsu Dragneel is not Master Viridian so I take it you'll all be leaving now." replied Ikaruga with a sneer that was replicated by Erza as they glared at each other.

"Liar, he is definitely Viridian and there is nothing you can say to make me think otherwise. Now why don't you just tell me the truth so we can see our friend and bring him back with us." she said in a loud tone as she slammed both of her hands down on the table.

"That's what I was talking about, so why even ask if you weren't going to listen to our answer?" asked back Ikaruga completely unaffected by Erza's heated glare.

"Calm down Erza, she's just trying to rile you up so she can have a duel with you." stated Angel still smirking at everything going on right now.

"So if you don't want to listen to us then what about logic Erza? Because right now in this very room stands the one and only daughter of Master Viridian, who happens to be nine years old. Or was Natsu the kind of man to keep something as big as that hidden from his whole guild?" she asked while gesturing at Nanako and Happy when she mentioned her.

"I… I don't know how to explain that, but I still know that he's Natsu because they both use green flames." stated Erza with a less confident expression than just moments ago.

"If you can't accept what we were kind enough to tell you, than I think it's time for all of you to be leaving." said Racer with stern look directed at the knight.

"We are not leaving until you tell us the truth." she declared only for the speedster to disappear for a brief moment and then appear right where he was standing before.

"No you are going to leave on your own free will this instant, otherwise you're going to wake up in some random ditch on the other side of the country." he replied while pointing at his own neck with a green marker. Initially that action of his slightly confused them, but they soon realized what he meant by it when they noticed that all of their necks now had green marks on them.

"Shit, I didn't even feel that." mumbled Gajeel as he started to rub the mark off of him.

"Erza I think it would probably be best if we listened to them." said Gray as he watched the redhead continue to glare the other three guild members. Clearly having an internal battle with herself as she weighed their options and the likelihood of them actually winning an encounter.

"Just because you can't see us doesn't mean we aren't still around." said Shadow as a figure emerged from one of the corners and Whirlwind once again appeared in the air above them.

"Sorry Erza but I don't see a confrontation with them right now going our way." voiced Levy with a concerned look since she had already run through the probability of them succeeding, and it was not a very likely thing to happen.

"Considering that the Whirlwind guy has already shown he can handle all of us by himself I think we should leave and come back when Viridian is actually here." stated Lucy, hoping that suggesting they come back later would be enough to convince their friend to not do something as reckless as the person they were trying to find would usually do in a situation like this.

"Fine, but we will be back." declared Erza as she spun away from Ikaruga and headed towards the door.

"And we'll be waiting to turn you away until he's actually back." replied Ikaruga as she waved to the group of Fairy Tail mages as they slowly started to leave.

"When will he most likely be back?" asked Wendy, since she was the last one to not turn away yet.

"He said he should be back by the end of the week." replied Nanako with a big smile.

"Don't leave me!" shouted Happy as she tried to escape from the little girls tight hug, which instantly let go of him after he shouted out like that. Happy booked it to Wendy, and was surprised to be greeted with a disappointed look directed right at him.

"What?" he asked as she motioned for him to look back to where he just fled from. And once he did he could now see a clearly upset little girl that was trying her best to not cry.

"I'm so sorry Nanako, I just needed to leave with the rest of my friends." he said while now floating right in front of her.

"Does that mean we can see each other again?" she asked while looking at him with a sadden look.

"Of course we can, and it sounds like we will probably get to see each other in a week. At that time you can then introduce me to your parents." replied the Exceed with a large grin that looked similar to a certain pink haired dragon slayer.

"Okay and I know my dad will be excited to see you." she whispered back to him while also giving him a quick hug.

"Happy we're leaving!" hollered Erza from outside of the guild hall, causing said Exceed to disappear in a flash of blue so he wouldn't have to suffer her punishment.

"Well that went as good as we could have hoped." stated Ikaruga with a little giggle.

"No thanks to you always trying to antagonize Titania." pointed out Angel with a big smile.

"I think that we should definitely let Master Viridian know about all of this, just in case he wants to keep his secret for a little longer." said Racer as he left to go and make the call.

"Wait, I want to talk with him too!" shouted Nanako as she chased after him.

 **With the members of Fairy Tail:**

"Erza do you want to talk about what just happened?" asked Lucy, finding it unbearable to keep walking in silence like they had been since leaving Repentant Heart.

"What's there to talk about, we were all just shown how far behind we truly are after being gone for seven years. And I for one will not let that remain, so once we get back to the guild hall I'm going to talk to Master about forcing all of us to start training." she replied with a determined look as she continued marching ahead of all of them.

"That's not what I was talking about Erza." mumbled Lucy just quiet enough for the knight to not hear her. And looking at everyone else she could tell they were all just as concerned about Erza as she was.

"But first I need to talk with a certain fruit vendor about getting a constant supply of Viridian fruit sent to Magnolia." declared Erza with a slight smile as she led them back towards the market that they visited earlier today. She unknowingly made all of them not as concerned about her with that simple action of hers.

 **Two three days later near Akane Resort:**

"Natsu do you really think it's a smart idea to surprise them like this?" asked Kagura as she walked with him along the beach.

"You heard what happened at the guild, and if I know them it will only escalate from there." he replied in an excited tone that she wished he would have more often. But considering what he does for the Council it's a miracle that he can still get that excited.

"Fine, but I think we should at least wait until they are done training." she stated with a small grin, happy to see him acting more like he did when they first met all those years ago.

"It's been seven years already, I think I've waited long enou…" he said only to trail off as he took a quick sniff of the air. And before she could ask what was going on he took off sprinting down the beach with her being dragged along for the ride.

"Natsu what in the world is going on?" she asked after managing to break free from his grip so she could run normally right beside him. But rather than getting a response from him all he did was increase his speed, which just allowed them to see a small group of Fairy Tail mages disappear and leave behind two more.

"I swear to Mavis I'm going to make all of those spirits regret messing with me." he growled out as his magic flared up and started to draw the attention of everyone else on the beach.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Kagura as the crowd started to figure out who the two of them were. Meaning that they only had a few minutes before the crowd gathered enough courage to actually approach the two of them and start asking them for their autographs and random questions.

"He means that…" started Loke only for him to be cut off by him now making choking noises, thanks to him being lifted off of his feet by an upset dragon slayer.

"You have ten seconds to explain why you lied to me, otherwise I'm going to do something to you that not even going back to the spirit world will fix." stated Natsu as he glared at the celestial spirit trying to break free of his grip.

"Natsu he can't do that if you're choking him." pointed out Kagura as she rolled her eyes at him. And with a small grunt he ungracefully dropped Loke to the ground and continued to glare at the spirit, signaling that he better start talking.

"It's good to see you too Viridian." choked out Loke as he rubbed his sore throat.

"If you think I was joking about my threat Loke, then you are going to be in for a rude awakening in a few short seconds." replied Natsu as he once again started to let his magic out.

"Is that how you should greet an old guild member Natsu?" asked Mavis from a tree branch above them.

"I have no idea who the hell you are girl, but if you didn't know I haven't been a member of Fairy Tail for quite a few years now." he said while glaring at the girl smiling down at him.

"Viridian who in the world are you talking to?" asked Kagura as she kept looking back up at the tree branch he was currently looking at. She was now slightly concerned that he finally lost it after seeing his long lost friends for a split second, only for them to disappear on him once again.

"What in the world Viper, are you saying you can't see the little girl sitting on that branch?" he asked while pointing at Mavis who was currently giggling at them.

"It's cute to see you two calling each other by your nicknames." stated Loke with a sly grin, that was once again cut short thanks to him being choked by Natsu again.

"I'm still not done with you Loke, and we're only calling each other by our monikers thanks to everyone now watching me strangle a pretty boy and talking to a tree." he said while choking the celestial spirit against the tree Mavis was still sitting in.

"You're not crazy Natsu, and the only reason your mate can't see me is because she isn't a member of Fairy Tail." stated Mavis smiling down at them, knowing that Loke would be fine as long as he answered Natsu's questions.

"What does being a member of Fairy Tail have to do with seeing you?" he asked, noticing the concerned look on Kagura's face growing with each passing second.

"It has everything to do with it, and if you let Loke go he can help explain it all to both of you." she answered with a sly grin, watching as Natsu debated if he should even be listening to her.

"Okay Loke, you're going to fill Viper and me in on this little girl first. After that you have ten seconds to explain why you lied to me about everyone being fine when it was the complete opposite." he demanded while setting the spirit down, this time actually doing it gently.

"I knew you would be upset man, but I really didn't think I needed to be concerned for my safety." said Loke as he started to rub his throat again.

"Then you are dumber than I ever took you for Loke, Fairy Tail almost closed down after all of that went down so of course I would be upset with the person that told me everything was fine." stated Natsu as he showed off his fangs to the spirit.

"Sorry I was just following orders." he replied with a frown, which only made Natsu glare at him more.

"I know that isn't a good enough of a reason for not telling you about what happened, but me just showing up to you was already bending the rules more than we ever should have. The Spirit King wanted to make sure that you continued to do what was best for the rest of the world." he finished, only to find an even more enraged dragon slayer glaring at him.

"And who says that old mustached freak knows what is best for the world, Fairy Tail has always been there for Fiore when she needed them the most. But because of you and the Spirit King that almost came to an abrupt end." he said while fighting the urge to lay into the spirit in front of him and rip him apart piece by piece.

"But it didn't Natsu, Fairy Tail is still alive and well with no small part of that being thanks to you." pointed out Mavis with a caring smile.

"Okay who the hell are you anyways?" shouted Natsu as he glared up at the smiling girl above him.

"Crap, I was supposed to go over that first wasn't I? Viridian I would like to introduce you to Master Mavis, the founder and first Master of Fairy Tail. And it was thanks to her that everyone on Tenrou Island survived that day." explained Loke with a smile, expecting to see one appear on Natsu as well. But if anything his glare only intensified at hearing all of this.

"Yes you were Loke, but considering you were giving me your terrible excuse for why you lied to me I'll let it pass this time. Now why in the world can I see you Mavis, while my partner Viper is left to think I've completely lost it?" he asked while maintaining his glare as he looked between the two of them.

"Loke if you could explain that would be the best so Natsu's mate isn't left in the dark." stated Mavis as she playfully dangled her feet back and forth.

"As far as I know only members of Fairy Tail can see her, something about the emblem." replied Loke with a quick shrug of his shoulders, knowing that Natsu no longer had the emblem.

"Then why in world can I still see you?" he asked now looking up at Mavis.

"You can see me Natsu, because even if you don't think or believe you're a member of Fairy Tail anymore. That doesn't change the fact that everyone else and even a small part of yourself will always consider yourself a member, which you proved by your actions after finding out what happened." she explained with a bright smile as Natsu sat there for a few moments contemplating what he just heard.

"I guess it's kind of hard for me to argue that since I can see you right now, but both of you should know that I will probably never become a member again since I have other obligations now." he replied while no longer glaring at either of them.

"Why become one when you are still currently are one in my books." she stated with a smirk as he rolled his eyes at her.

"Viridian, we have five minutes before they decided to approach us." said Kagura with a concerned frown, knowing that he was always going to have trouble dealing with anything related to Fairy Tail.

"Thanks Viper, so I have one last question for you Loke. Why in the world did I just witness Virgo taking everyone else into the spirit realm?" he asked once again looking upset at the spirit.

"We wanted to celebrate their return so we're throwing them a party." replied Loke as fast as he could, knowing that Natsu still was extremely upset with him.

"If you want I could take you there as well, I'm sure they would all be thrilled to know that you're alright, especially since most of the world still thinks you're dead." he finished with a hopeful smile.

"Sorry Loke but as fun as it sounds to go to your realm and show the Spirit King my appreciation for messing with my life. I unfortunately can't go missing for however long it would take me to beat his ass into the ground. Oh and how long will it be before the rest return?" asked Natsu with a stern look.

"That depends on how long the party will last." he answered now feeling uncomfortable standing with someone whose first thought about going to the spirit realm was to fight the Spirit King himself.

"Let's say it takes a full day, which is how long most parties at Fairy Tail lasted." stated the dragon slayer as he started to look at the group of people that were slowly getting closer to them.

"That would probably come to about three months' time here." he replied and was caught off guard by Natsu bursting into laughter. "And why exactly is that so funny to you?" asked Loke with a confused expression.

"I have a feeling that after that little party of yours I won't be the only one who wants to beat the Spirit King up. Oh and here's something to remember me by Loke, it can also be a constant reminder of how you'll never lie to me like that again." said Natsu while holding onto Loke's arm as his hand caught on fire, causing the spirit to scream out in pain before receiving a swift kick to his face and fading away in a golden light as he returned back to his realm.

"And what exactly did that accomplish Natsu?" asked Mavis and Kagura at the same time, with the only difference being Kagura calling him Viridian.

"It let me release a little bit of my pent up anger and it also let him and the Spirit King know I have ways of dealing with their kind." he replied as he started to walk towards the crowd and more specifically two members of Fairy Tail.

"And how did you accomplish that last one?" they both asked together again, causing Natsu to let out a little chuckle.

"I just gave Loke a little burn that he won't be able to remove no matter what he tries to do to get rid of it." he answered with a smirk now being firmly placed on his face.

"So what do you plan to do now Viridian?" asked Kagura as Mavis had a shocked look come over her face at hearing that last bit of information.

"Jet and Droy get over here." shouted out Natsu in a deep voice as he ignored Kagura's question. Everyone gathered there was shocked that two random people were called out to specifically by Master Viridian, none more so than the two who reluctantly came towards him.

"I've been informed that some of your guild mates came to my guild in hopes of meeting me while I was out on a job. I came here in hopes of talking with them, but it seems I was too late for that so I want the two of you to give them a message when they return." he said while slightly enjoying how scared the two were of him right now.

"And what is that Master Viridian?" asked Droy, since Jet couldn't help but be terrified that Viridian might actually be Natsu.

"That I expect to see great things from all of them at the upcoming Grand Magic Games, and if they finish in the top three places I'll meet with any member from Fairy Tail that wants to meet with me. And I'll answer any question that they have, oh and if they want a little help with their strength once they return they should head out into the woods and let Wendy's nose lead their way." he said before turning away from the two and heading back to where Mavis was still sitting in the tree.

"You seriously aren't going to let her do that to them are you?" asked Kagura with a concerned look on her face, knowing exactly what he had planned for his friends once they returned from the spirit realm.

"That is exactly what I plan to do, otherwise they won't stand a chance in the Grand Magic Games after losing all remaining time to train for the games. Which we both know still wouldn't have been enough for them to even qualify for the upcoming Grand Magic Games since constant training has never been any of their strong suits besides Erza." he replied with a smug grin.

"See Natsu, you can't help but lend a helping hand to Fairy Tail when they need you." stated Mavis with a sly grin as the two mages of Repentant Heart started to walk away from her.

"You're free to think whatever you want Mavis, all I know is that this will definitely make things more interesting for me at least." stated Natsu before he and Kagura where surrounded by a few people asking them all sorts of questions.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **So first off sorry about the long wait in between my uploads for my stories, but I just recently got the newest Fire Emblem and can't put it down. I'm a real sucker for those types of game, which is why I'm trying really hard to wait for Xcom 2 to become cheaper before I buy it. Okay enough of that stuff, so I hope you all enjoyed that and are getting ready for the start of the Grand Magic Games. Of course they are going to be quite a bit different since Repentant Heart is going to be a contender, which also brings me to asking all of you who you would like to see competing in the games since unfortunately Natsu can't. Well I guess that's it so feel free to leave me a review or pm and I'll eventually respond back to you when I find the time.**

 **Oh and if you would like me to update faster or possibly start a new story I have information about my page that I set up on my profile page.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	7. A Strange Encounter

Ch 7: A Strange Encounter

 **Spirit Realm as the party started to come to a close:**

This was exactly what the members of Fairy Tail needed to do before a long session of training, which is exactly what they all intended on doing once they finished having fun. And it also had the added bonus of making a few of them forget about Repentant Heart, who was still obviously keeping something hidden from them. But during the celebrations a certain blonde realized that Loke wasn't there at the beginning of the party, and when he did finally appear he looked like he just got his ass handed to him. Of course this caused Lucy to instantly go and see if everything was alright, which he assured her that it was even though they both knew she didn't believe a word of it for a second.

And because of that the celestial wizard kept a watchful eye on him, which eventually let her realize that Loke kept touching his right forearm with a slight grimace every once in a while. This of course intrigued her to the point that she mentioned it to the rest of her friends, who couldn't figure out why he would be acting so odd with her and have what appeared to be an injury while in the spirit realm.

"Loke, what happened to your arm?" asked Erza as she came right up to the spirit with a determined look now on display. While behind her everyone else hit themselves for not realizing that she of course would go straight to the spirit and ask him what the hell was going on like she just did.

"Nothing Erza, why do you ask?" he asked back with a slightly nervous smile as she continued to glare at him.

"Because you keep touching your right forearm with a pained expression on your face whenever you do." she replied while her glare only intensified.

"Come on Loke, what aren't you telling us?" asked Lucy while giving him a hurt look, which she knew would at least get him to say something back to them.

"Fine, you're right, I've got an injury!" he said while pulling up his sleeve and showing the bandages wrapped around his forearm.

"How in the hell did you get that when Lucy didn't use you in a fight for a while?" asked Gray with a skeptical look sent to his longtime friend that he actually picked to be his partner in the S-Class trials that only occurred just a few days ago to all of them.

"Not only that, but shouldn't it have healed by now since we're in your realm?" asked Levy, who probably knew almost as much as Lucy about spirits since it was an extremely fascinating topic for the bookworm of Fairy Tail.

"To answer your question first Gray, I do have a life outside of Lucy which is how I got this injury. And yes Levy it should have been healed by now if I had gotten it in earth-land, but since I got it here it heals at the normal pace that any of you would if you got injured." he explained while rolling down his sleeve, hoping that this would be the end of their questioning of him. And it would have been if they hadn't had a certain sky dragon slayer in their midst, who couldn't stand seeing any of her friends hurt if she could help them at all.

"I could heal it for you." offered Wendy with a concerned look sent to him and more specifically his arm.

"There's no need for that Wendy, I'll be fine in a few days." he replied with a smile as he nonchalantly waved her off.

"But I could help it heal faster." she stated while looking down at her feet with a frown.

"Loke you'll let her help you, otherwise you'll have some more injuries to be worried about." declared Erza in a commanding tone as she grabbed the spirit by his shoulder and prevented him from going anywhere else.

"Erza if he doesn't want my help then we shouldn't force him." Wendy mumbled out while shuffling her feet back and forth with her head still down. Loke thought that he might just be in the clear until he looked back up and saw that every other girl there was giving him a deadly glare for making Wendy feel bad.

So with a sigh he broke free of Erza's grasp and headed towards the young dragon slayer that only wanted to help. "You can try Wendy, but I'm afraid that you won't be able to help me with this, which is why I didn't want to bother you with it." said Loke as he rolled his sleeve back up and presented his bandaged forearm to the little girl.

"That's ridiculous, there are very few injuries that Wendy can't treat." stated Carla with a smug yet proud tone in her voice. While she said this she didn't notice the slightly confused look that came over Wendy's face as she tried to heal the wound while it was still wrapped in bandages. Thinking that she just needed to see exactly what the wound was she went to start undoing it until a hand stopped her before she could even start.

"Sorry Wendy, but you can't take them off." he said with a sad smile.

"But I don't know exactly what I'm working on if I don't, which is why I think I can't help you right now." she said while looking back up at him.

"It's a burn, and if you can't heal it after learning that then there isn't anything you can do to help me with this." he said, not liking the sad look that came over the girl's face after hearing that. But it only lasted for a second before it turned into a determined one as she went back to working on his arm.

"What in the world burned you?" asked Lucy as she inspected the bandages now having her face just a few inches away from them.

"An old friend of mine, who wasn't too thrilled with how we parted ways the last time we ran into each other." he answered, not being able to lie to her. But that didn't mean he had to tell her everything since it was clear that doing so would more than likely cause Natsu's wrath to come down on him once again.

"Juvia wants to know, what kind of friend would do that?" asked the water woman as she clung to the arm of a distracted Gray, who otherwise wouldn't have let her cling to him like she currently was.

"Not a very good one if you ask me." commented Carla, as she came up to Wendy who was still working on the spirit.

"Honestly in my opinion it really depends on what you did to him the last time you two met, because I would have to assume it wasn't very good if his first thought after seeing you was to give you a burn." stated Gray, who finally realized that Juvia was on him and quickly remedied that with a quick shake of his arm.

"Let's just say I lied to him about something I really shouldn't have." replied the spirit with a frown coming over him.

"And what exactly did you lie to him about?" asked Erza as she continued to give the spirit a stern look.

"More importantly Loke, why did you lie to him in the first place if he was your friend?" asked Lucy with a concerned expression coming over her face.

"Because I didn't have a choice in the matter and I can't say what it was about either." he mumbled back as his head dropped so they could no longer see his face.

"That doesn't even make sense. Who in the world could make you of all people lie to your friend like that?" she asked him back, and she along with everyone else could see how uncomfortable the spirit was with all of this. But luckily for Loke he didn't have to reply, thanks to the spirit that put him in this place in the first place.

"That would be me, because I knew that he would be the only one who could actually do it." said the Spirit King in a slightly sad tone as he appeared right behind them. "And unfortunately that is all any of you are going to learn about this incident since it's none of your concern." he finished, making all but Lucy look away from him due to his overwhelming aura.

"But Loke got hurt; I can't just sit back when something like that happens to one of my friends. Even if you claim it's none of my business." stated Lucy as she glared back up at him, shocking all of them except for the Spirit King and Loke. Both of whom have already seen the girl defy him before when she thought he was being completely unreasonable about something.

"Seriously Lucy, I'm completely fine and I was only given this burn as a reminder to never lie to him again." replied Loke while giving her one of his usual smiles.

"My old friend speaks the truth Ms. Heartfilia, and if it ever does become more than that you and the rest of your friends will be the first to know. But seeing as it was nothing more than a warning to never do something like that again, you and everyone else have nothing to worry about." said the Spirit King while smiling down on them.

"Fine, but you two better come to me like you said you would if it gets worse." she replied while giving him a small smile.

"We will." they both replied together, making the atmosphere lighten up noticeably. That unfortunately only lasted for a few seconds until Wendy let out a tired sigh and looked up at Loke and the Spirit King with concern clearly written on her face.

"I still can't fix it." she said, noticing that neither of them looked surprised at hearing this.

"I told you that it most likely would have to heal naturally." responded Loke as he rolled his sleeve back down again.

"But that's not true either." she declared, actually causing everyone gathered there to have a shocked look.

"And what makes you believe that little dragoness?" asked the Spirit King now looking at Loke with slight concern since it was because of him that he received that burn from Natsu.

"His burn isn't like any burn I've ever seen before. It seems to somehow keep burning him so that his body can't start the healing process like it usually would." she explained with a frown as the rest of them looked at Loke with concern after hearing this.

"And when I tried to speed up his healing the burn just increased to counteract my help. Whoever did this to you Loke doesn't want it removed at all, and he is definitely a really strong mage to be able to do something as complicated as this." she finished in a defeated tone. But before she could even start thinking about how she failed to help him, Loke tenderly patted her on the head while giving her a large smile.

"You did great Wendy, and the pain isn't that bad if I'm being honest. Also it will be a constant reminder for me to never lie about something as important as that again." he replied, glad to see her have the starting of a smile form on her face.

"And what exactly did you lie about? Because that is still a mystery to the rest of us." said Erza as she gave Loke a very familiar glare. One that he learned from his time as an actual member of Fairy Tail, that if the woman didn't get the answers she wanted then he was soon going to be in a whole lot of pain.

"Oh, would you look at the time! It seems that it's about time for all of you to head back if you all still want to compete in those upcoming games of yours." chuckled the Spirit King as he grinned down at all of them.

"Wait a minute, the Grand Magic Games aren't for another three months." stated Levy as she and everyone else had confused looks on their faces after hearing what the Spirit King just said.

"That would be correct if you hadn't spent the entire day celebrating with us like you all did." stated Virgo after appearing out of nowhere and giving them all a bright smile.

"So you're saying that time moves faster here?" she asked, thinking that they at most lost a week.

"Yep, so I'll be sending you all back now." answered the maid as she and the rest of the spirits started to wave goodbye to them.

"Wait, how much time has actually passed?" asked Erza, now extremely concerned about how hard they were going to have to work to make up for this lost time.

"Three months." replied Loke with a nervous grin as all of the Fairy Tail members' eyes shot wide open at hearing this. And in the next few seconds some of them quickly had their faces change into ones of rage and anger.

"You son of a bitch Loke!" she shouted out while reaching for him, but before she could land a hand on him she and everyone else found themselves back on the beach.

 **June 25th X791 at the beach where they planned to train:**

"You're all finally back!" shouted Jet and Droy as the two of them started to hug only Levy.

"You mustached bastard, give us back our three months!" shouted Lucy into the sky as everyone else had a look of defeat come over them.

"I can't believe we didn't get any actual training in." mumbled Gray as he and almost everyone else hung their heads in defeat.

"NO, we still have a few days to train nonstop and catch up with everyone else!" declared Erza with a determined look, as she thought about a certain guild that seemed to just rub her the wrong way.

"He was actually correct." Droy whispered to Jet as the rest of their group started to discuss about how they were going to train for these last few days before the Grand Magic Games.

"Of course he was Droy; he's a Wizard Saint for crying out loud. And you saw what he did to Loke and that wasn't him even trying, now just think about what he might do if we don't do as he told us to?" replied the speedster with a scared look coming over his face as both of them couldn't stop the slight shiver they got just from thinking about it.

"So how should we tell them?" asked Droy as he nervously looked at the rest of his friends that seemed to have already forgotten about the two of them.

"I guess just coming out and telling them right away would probably be the best." he replied, getting a nod of agreement out of his best friend and partner. Both of them looked back at the rest of their friends and came to the realization that if they wanted to do that they had to act fast. Because it looked like they were all about to head off and start training on their own, and if that were to happen than it would take even Jet a while to tell them all what Master Viridian told them to.

"Wait!" shouted Droy, who was then surprised when they all stopped and turned to look at the two of them questioningly.

"What is it Droy? We have a lot of training to do if we want to have any hopes of doing well in the games, so spit it out." replied Erza, wanting nothing more than to ignore him and continue on with their plans.

"Master Viridian showed up right after you all disappeared." answered Jet, causing most of them to now have stunned faces. "He was hoping to speak with all of you since he heard that you all paid his guild a visit while he wasn't there." he continued.

"What else did he say and did he do anything that only Natsu would do?" she asked now standing in front of the two with a demanding aura around her as she looked sternly at the both of them.

"He said that he expects to see great things out of our group during the games and that if we take one of the top places. Any member of our guild can personally meet with him and he'll answer any question that they might have for him." stuttered out Jet as he started to back away from the woman that still terrified him.

"Well that makes what just happened to us even worse." mumbled Gray as the rest of the group that went to the spirit realm hung their heads in shame.

"He also knew that you guys would be gone for a while so he told us that if you want any help with your strength that all of you should head into the woods. And after that you should all just follow Wendy's nose, which I honestly don't really understand since I didn't think it was common knowledge about dragon slayers having good noses." he finished explaining with a sigh of relief at the end since Erza was no longer advancing on him with a menacing look in her eyes.

"It isn't, do you think it's some sort of trap?" asked Wendy with a worried look now coming over her usually bright and cheerful face.

"I don't think Master Viridian would do something like that, and the Council knows a lot about dragon slayers so it would make sense that so do all of their Wizard Saints." pointed out Levy, who also didn't know what to make of this weird situation.

"We haven't done anything to upset him have we?" asked Juvia, who just like Wendy had a worried expression on her face.

"I didn't think our visit with Repentant Heart went bad enough to get on their bad side to the point that they would set up an ambush on us." stated Lucy with somewhat confident grin spread across her lips.

"It didn't, and from what we were just told it sounds like he is only trying to help us out." agreed Erza as a small smile spread across her own lips.

"True, but why in the world would he want to help us out? We don't even know him." replied Gray as he looked at Erza for an answer, one that he was easily able to figure out by her slight smile.

"Erza for the last time Natsu is not Viridian, there's no way that idiot could ever do even half the stuff that he's supposedly done." he declared while giving her a stern look that she brushed off while still smiling to herself as she walked past him.

"There's really only one way to find that out now isn't there." she replied while heading towards the woods with a few of the group following after her.

"Seriously, when is she going to accept that he's probably dead by now given how much he gets into trouble?" he asked himself, not realizing that he actually said it out loud.

"There's nothing wrong with her hoping that he's still fine." stated Lucy with a bright smile as she came up to the ice mage.

"And you're also forgetting one major thing about him, Gray. No matter however many times Natsu gets knocked down he always stands back up and only fights back harder. So with that in mind is it really that hard to believe that he's still out there somewhere?" she asked him, seeing a slight grin starting to form on the edges of his lips.

"He did never stay down even if it would've been easier on him." he replied as a slight grin could be seen. "But why is she so insistent on him being Viridian? I mean some of the things that the man has done sounds slightly like Flame Brain, but he could never kill as many people as they claim he has." he stated in defiant tone.

"I don't want to think he is capable of that either Gray, but it has been seven years since we've last seen him." she said with a slight frown, wondering if she could handle being on her own for that long. And most likely believing like the rest of the world that the Tenrou Group died all those years ago while she wasn't there to help them.

"We better start following them if we don't want to be left behind." said Gray as he and Lucy then started to follow the rest of their group.

"Honestly, are we that easy to forget about?" asked Jet as he and Droy followed behind Gray and Lucy as the two quietly chatted with each other.

"I guess so, I mean it's already happened a few times today alone." answered Droy with a slight frown, wondering if that was one of the reasons that Levy hadn't picked either of them yet.

 **In the woods a few minutes later:**

"Are you sure the trail leads here Wendy?" asked Erza as their group stood on the edge of a canyon that just so happened to only have a broken bridge going across it.

"Positive, and it's fairly fresh." she replied with a confused expression.

"So where does it go to after here?" asked Carla as she looked up at her partner.

"Across the canyon, as if they used the bridge." she answered with a little uncertainty to her voice.

"Then let's go!" cheered Happy as he flew across the canyon with a big grin.

"Not all of us can fly like you, you stupid cat." stated Lucy, mumbling that last part to herself. Knowing that Happy was probably the hurting the most out of them after learning that Natsu hadn't been seen or heard from since his last visit with Fairy Tail.

"Sorry Lucy, I forgot." he replied with a frown as he flew back to them. "But Carla and I could carry you all across." he suggested with a smile coming over his face and getting rid of that frown that seemed wrong on the usually cheerful Exceed.

"That's a great idea Happy." said Wendy while smiling up at him.

"I could also just build a bridge of my own." suggested Gray with a smug grin as Happy lost the smile he used to have.

"Seems like we won't need that either." stated Erza as she pointed to the bridge that slowly repaired itself until it looked brand new.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but that kind of freaks me out." replied Lucy as she looked at the bridge skeptically.

"Come on Lucy, whoever Master Viridian wants us to meet is most likely just giving us a hand." said Levy as she followed Erza onto the bridge that easily held all of their weight. The rest decided after listening to the bookworm that she was probably right and followed after them, if nothing else to make sure that they were alright.

"Juvia would like to know who we're going to meet that Wendy already knows." stated the water mage after they all crossed the bridge and were heading further into the woods at the moment.

"Someone that helped us out a long time ago." replied the sky dragon slayer as she came to a stop, which confused the rest of their group. That is until three cloaked figures appeared on the road in front of them, heading their way at a very casual pace.

"Is this who we're supposed to meet?" asked Lucy in a hushed voice as the three figures got close enough for them to identify that they were members of Repentant Heart, thanks to their distinctive cloaks.

"I would assume so." answered Erza as she and a few others of their group got ready for a fight just in case it started to head that way.

"Well if it isn't Fairy Tail." stated one of the figures in a feminine voice that sounded slightly familiar to a few of them.

"Not just that, but they are the ones that the rest of the world thought died seven years ago." stated a different member of Repentant Heart, that also happened to be a female.

"It's good to finally see for myself that the recent rumors were true." said the final person of the small group of three. And upon hearing his voice Erza couldn't believe who it was now standing before her, even if he had still yet to reveal himself to her which wasn't need for her to know who he was.

"Jellal?" she asked in a shocked and slightly nervous voice.

"Hi Erza, I would say it's been awhile since the last time we saw each other. But that is only really true for me I guess." replied Jellal as he brought down his hood and smiled at the red headed knight. This reveal shocked most of the group since the last time they saw Jellal he was being sent away to jail where he would have most likely stayed until the day he died considering all the crimes he committed.

"How are you even here?" she asked hesitantly, hoping that his answer to that was one she could accept and not be forced to try and take him back into the Council's custody.

"Master Viridian." was his simple explanation as to how he was now no longer sitting in a prison cell for the rest of his life.

"Shit man, what can't that freaking guy do?" asked Gray in a slightly upset tone.

"From what I can tell nothing, and it's good to see you again Gray." answered Ultear as she and Meredy both removed their hoods. And in the next few seconds, to everyone's amazement, Meredy and Juvia were talking with each other as if they were best friends that haven't seen each other in years. This caused the rest of the group to watch them silently for a few minutes, both groups glad to see the two of them finding someone that they seemed to connect with on a deeper level than they normally would.

"He even got you to join his band of ex-dark mages?" asked the ice mage with the same tone as before.

"That he did Gray, just like he's done with a few other mages that the rest of the world only saw the worst in and wouldn't give another chance to. But luckily he saw something in all of us that some of us didn't even know was in there, so I would advise you to cut it out with that tone of yours while you're talking about my Master." replied Ultear while giving him a glare that reminded the ice mage of Ur when she would discipline him.

"Sorry Ultear." he mumbled back while rubbing the back of his head with a look of embarrassment clearly displayed on his face. This was something that shocked the rest of the Fairy Tail members, since this didn't seem like the Gray that they knew at all.

"It's fine; just know that most members of Repentant Heart have nothing but respect for Master Viridian. And won't hesitate to stand up for one of the few people out there that believed in them and gave them a second chance at having a somewhat normal life." she explained with a small smile coming over her face as she looked at her mother's pupil.

"From what I've learned about him, Master Viridian has already helped more of the citizens in Fiore than what most Wizard Saints do in their entire lives." stated Levy with a bright smile, once again being lucky enough to have never seen any of these three as an enemy before.

"And that's only from the stuff that's public knowledge." said Jellal in a hushed voice, that unfortunately for him was heard by everyone else.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked now looking at the blue haired with an intrigued look as everyone else started to look at him as well.

"Nothing." he replied, but one look at all of them staring at him like they were let him know he wasn't going to get out of this one. So with a sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration at making such a rookie mistake he got ready to enlighten them a little.

"What I meant by that, is that those are the things the Council and the Kingdom are fine with letting all of the citizens know about. Meaning that some of his more unsavory work like assassinating psychotic leaders of cults intent on wiping out whole towns in a single night are usually kept under wraps." he explained, only to realize that the people he was talking to firmly believed in not killing no matter what the circumstances were.

"And how many of those things has he done since working for the Council?" asked Erza in a calm tone that slightly caught the rest of her guild members off guard.

"More than he would've liked to do in his entire life Scarlet, and before all of you get into a tizzy over him killing those people when there could have been a different option. Know that if there truly was one he would have found it and done it, he doesn't enjoy killing and only does it when his life or the lives of hundreds if not thousands are on the line." she elaborated while giving them all a stern glare. And the next few minutes were completely silent, except for the chatter of Meredy and Juvia who were pretty much in their own world at the moment.

"I guess I can see that, it just isn't the Fairy Tail way of handling a situation." stated Lucy as the rest of her guild members nodded in agreement.

"Oh we know, and so does the rest of the Country. Hopefully that won't come to bite your guild in the ass one day." she replied with a slight smirk that instantly caused a few of them to be upset with her.

"And what the hell do you mean by that Ultear?" asked Gray now in her face and glaring at her.

"Nothing, well except for the small fact that a lot has changed in the world while you were all gone for these past few years. The current dark guilds have learned from the ones before them and won't hesitate in killing a legal mage if they are in their way anymore." she replied now losing the smirk she had and replacing it with a guilty frown.

"You've gotta be kidding me, don't they know that doing something like that will bring the full might of the Council down on them?" asked Erza in disbelief that dark mages would do such a bold move so easily now days.

"Unfortunately she isn't joking Erza, it's the sad truth of the world we now live in. And yes the Council will focus all of their available resources on crushing any dark guild foolish enough to do that, but unfortunately that no longer seems to be enough of a deterrent anymore." answered Jellal, who now had a somber look displayed on his face. "They've finally figured out the huge advantage they have when fighting an opponent that doesn't intend on killing them. And because of that they will most of the time win any fights with legal mages from the other guilds in the country." he continued on with a frown spreading across his lips.

"But what about the Rune Knights?" asked Levy, thinking that they would easily be able to squash something like this.

"They're even worse than the legal mages. Those weaklings have very little experience in actually dealing with dark mages since that used to be mainly handled by the legal guilds in the country. And because of that key detail they unfortunately are nothing more than a large group of people who can only really police legal mages and the rest of the normal citizens of Fiore." answered Ultear while shaking her head at how useless the Council's main force actually was. Something that she knew while a member of their organization and didn't care since it helped her guild out immensely to know that they had nothing to fear from them.

"Come on Ultear, yes that is unfortunately true. But they've been getting progressively better over the last year after Master Viridian talked with the Council about all of this." he replied while looking at his guild member with a slight smile.

"Yes, but if what Master Viridian fears is going to be happening soon actually starts, then they are nowhere close to what they need to be at to make any real difference." she stated with a concerned look coming over her face as she looked at him.

"What exactly is Master Viridian afraid of happening?" asked Wendy in a shy tone since she was one of the few that heard the two's quiet conversation between themselves.

"Nothing that you need to worry your cute little head over." replied Ultear as she bent down so they were face to face with each other and gave the girl a reassuring smile.

"If it's got you two worried than I think it is." stated Erza, who didn't hear what the two said to each other earlier. But she could tell from their expressions that it definitely wasn't something good, which she got confirmed by Wendy's question.

"We'll fill you in when we know more ourselves Erza, Master Viridian likes to keep things like this to himself as long as he can." said Jellal as he tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it did nothing to ease the concern of the knight before him.

"Okay that's enough of this crap." she declared, causing the rest of her group to let out a sigh knowing exactly where she was most likely going to go after making such a declaration. "Is Natsu actually Master Viridian? The rest of your guild claims that he isn't, but I know that he is and for some reason that's some sort of big secret." she said while glaring intensely at Jellal.

"It's not our place to reveal his identity." he replied with a blank expression.

"Or do we even have the right to do so if we wanted to." stated Ultear with a stern look sent the knight's way. "Master Viridian has made many powerful enemies over the years, all of whom would love to know different people that he cares about other than his guild members and family. So did you ever think that he's keeping his true identity hidden to protect those people?" she asked in a slightly angry tone as she poked Erza in the chest, something that no one from Fairy Tail would ever dare to try.

They all expected her to explode on the time mage for doing something like that, but instead it seemed like Erza was too busy in her own thoughts to care. "That still isn't good enough of a reason for him to not let those that still care about him know that he's still fine." said Erza as a sad look came over her face as she dropped her head.

"He's still alive and causing trouble like he has always done." stated Jellal, and Erza looked up at him with a hopefully expression. "Before you start celebrating, that neither confirms nor denies him being Master Viridian like you suspect. The Council for some unknown reason are keeping any sightings of Natsu Dragneel from becoming public knowledge, probably because it would make them look bad since they declared him dead with the rest of you." he finished with a warm smile.

"And how exactly did you find this out?" asked a skeptical Levy.

"When Meredy and I broke Jellal here out of prison a few years ago we decided to also get as much intel from the Council as we could while we were already there. And in the middle of a lot of confidential files were ones that were about our pink haired friend and where he had supposedly been sighted at." answered the time mage with a sly grin. "Considering that we all thought he was dead like the rest of you it piqued our interests just enough to look into it. And after talking with a few of the witnesses I can confidently say that four years ago he was alive and well, helping anyone that he saw in need however he could." she finished, expecting to at least see a slight smile from the woman but only got a blank stare instead.

"We already knew that he was fine just three years ago when he paid Fairy Tail a visit." stated Lucy with a slight frown.

"So you know that he got himself declared alive by the Council afterwards?" asked Jellal, getting a few nods of confirmation from them. "Then why are you all so worked up about him? I mean that man doesn't know the meaning of giving up and is definitely out there most likely helping someone as we speak." he asked again.

"We know that, but it would just be nice to see him with our own eyes and confirm it for ourselves." mumbled Erza still having a sad expression displayed on her usually stoic face.

"What if you could feel that he's fine?" asked Meredy, causing most of them to slightly jump in shock at her sudden appearance.

"That would definitely make me feel better, but who in the world could you do something like that?" she asked back with an eyebrow raised questioningly as she looked at the pink haired lady.

"It's part of her magic, Juvia knows she can do it because she did it to Juvia and Gray on Tenrou Island." replied Juvia with a bright smile as she looked at Gray lovingly. Who was now looking at Meredy with a terrified expression since her magic was quite a fearsome one since it pretty much rendered him helpless while he wasn't even near her.

"You can really do that?" questioned Erza as she looked at Meredy with a bright smile.

"I can so long as the connection between the two of you is strong enough." replied Meredy as she gave Juvia a quick smile that made the water mage start blushing.

"I've known him almost my entire life, which should definitely be enough shouldn't it?" she asked, only for her to start losing hope at the slightly concerned expression the sensory mage gave her after hearing that.

"It would definitely be better if you loved him, because if you did then I could almost guarantee you with a hundred percent certainty that this would work." Meredy said while taking hold of Erza's wrist, not noticing the blushing mess that the knight became after hearing that. "But we might as well try anyways, now just give me a few seconds of complete silence… **SENSORY LINK!** " mumbled the pink haired beauty, and they all waited in silence to see if it would work.

"Sorry Erza I guess we'll…" started Lucy only for Erza to let out a small gasp as a pink ring with a heart in the center it formed on her wrist. And then before any of them could speak they all watched as bolt of pink magic shot into the sky and disappeared into the distance as Erza collapsed to the ground on her knees.

"Erza!" shouted out most of the members of Fairy Tail as they rushed to her.

"What they hell did you just do to her?" asked Gray as he grabbed Meredy by the collar of her cloak and threw her up against a nearby tree.

"Gray I would highly recommend that you let go of Meredy this instant, otherwise Fairy Tail might no longer have a resident ice mage and stripper." hissed out Ultear as ten swords of ice appeared around the ice mage just centimeters from cutting him to shreds. It would only take her a fraction of a second to end his life if he so much as twitched in a way she didn't like.

"Enough Ultear, and why don't you look for yourself Gray." replied the sensory mage as she pointed over to Erza who had a huge smile spread across her face as a few tears of joy escaped her eyes. This was something that Erza would usually never allow any of them to see her do, but she was currently too happy to care about something like that when she now knew he was still out there.

"He's still alive." said Erza as she fondly looked down at the pink bracelet of magic allowing her to know this and so much more about him.

"I'm so sorry, I just thought you might have attacked her like you did with me and Juvia." he said while rubbing the back of his head with an embarrassed grin on his face for jumping to the worst case conclusion right away like he did.

"No problem, and I'm truly sorry about all of that stuff from before." she said with a bright smile that caught him slightly off guard since it reminded him of a different pink haired person that forgave people just as easily as she just did with him.

"So what exactly can she feel from him right now?" asked Levy with a bright smile that everyone else had since they were also glad to learn that Natsu was indeed still fine.

"That depends on what she wants to receive from him. Theoretically she could get every sense that he is currently experiencing as we speak, so much so that it would feel like she was him but only a passenger." she explained with a bright smile, that she instantly lost when noticing that Erza's expression went from one of shock to that of someone extremely determined.

"Shit, Erza you really shouldn't…" she started to say but was cut off when Erza collapsed the rest of the way and was now laying face first in the dirt. "Shouldn't try that because it takes a lot of your concentration and leaves the rest of your body completely helpless." she finished while shaking her head at Lucy freaking out with Levy as they both tried to get the knight to wake back up as gently as they possibly could.

 **With Natsu:**

Erza expected to find him in all sorts of crazy scenarios, such as him currently in a fight for his life against some sort of monstrosity tearing a village apart. Or him possibly in a fight against a whole dark guild all by himself, but she never expected to catch him just as he was coming out of the shower in nothing but a towel standing in front of a mirror. But she would be lying if she didn't appreciate the sight of his ripped body still slightly glistening thanks to him not completely drying himself off with the towel now wrapped around his waist. It also allowed her to see that he was definitely bigger than what she last remembered; he was now probably slightly bigger than Gajeel from what she could tell.

And as she admired him in the mirror she started to take notice of all the new scars that he had littered all over his body. None of them seemed too bad as she continued up his body that is until she looked at his face and realized that one of them was a long one going vertically through his right eye. His right eye that she just then realized he wasn't looking through at all; this caused her to start feeling pity for him since she herself knew what that was like. But before she could start feeling worse for him, his lips formed into that all so familiar grin of his as he looked into his one good eye.

"Hello Erza, I can honestly say I didn't expect your first sight of me since you all got back to be like this." he stated with a chuckle, as she started to freak out about him finding out she was seeing what he wasn't wearing right then. "But that's just life I guess, and did you really think I wouldn't notice something like this all of a sudden forming on my wrist?" he asked while pointing at the pink band going around his own wrist that matched hers perfectly. If Erza had been in her own body she would have smacked herself in the face right then for forgetting something like that so quickly.

"As for how I know it was you that linked with me, that is also pretty easy to figure out since I don't think anyone else could, given how far apart we currently are at the moment. Since it takes really strong feelings for Sensory Link to work to this extent, which might I add I'm impressed that you could utilize it as well as you currently are." he stated with a smirk as he continued to look at himself in the mirror, knowing that she definitely wanted to be able to actually see him. But he didn't know that what he just said would have made the woman if she was still in her own body start blushing until she was the same shade of her own hair due to the implications of what she just did and what he said.

But before she could completely lose herself in those thoughts she noticed a frown slowly forming on his face. "I know that you're probably upset with me right now for not seeing any of you yet, but I've been pretty busy. And when I did try and find you all, your tail ended at some random beach with only Jet and Droy still there. Two people that my last meeting with didn't go too well with so I decided to wait around in and hope that you would eventually return." he said while running a hand through his still wet hair.

"But none of you did, and because of that I had to take off to go and deal with some other things I've got going on. I know that this is all a terrible excuse but it's all I've got right now, that is until we can actually sit down and talk with each other." he continued with a small smile slowly taking over his face. All of this made Erza extremely frustrated that she couldn't communicate back with him at the moment, wishing that he might give her a hint to where he currently was.

"Hopefully we can do that after the Grand Magic Games, which I'm fairly confident that all of you from the Tenrou Group are excited to compete in. And if those weren't coming up I'd probably tell you where we could meet up, but I can't do that since Fairy Tail will need you completely focused on the games." he stated with a knowing look, that caused Erza to wonder how much he has actually changed over these past seven years. But at the moment she was upset with him for knowing what she wanted him to do at the moment, and for using a stupid reason as the upcoming games to not tell her where he was.

"I want you to know that I'll be rooting for you and the rest of Fairy Tail during them, so you all better do your best to make Fairy Tail the number one guild in the Fiore like it should be." he said once again giving her a toothy grin like he did right away.

"Natsu, where are you?" asked an unknown female voice from the other room. This instantly caused Erza to become furious with the man claiming that he was too busy to see her and the rest of the guild. While in her eyes at least he was just fooling around with some floozy in an Inn, Mavis only knows where. But rather than seeing him have a guilty look like she expected him to after the unknown woman called out for him he now had on a completely serious look as he stared into the mirror.

"Erza I know what you're probably thinking right now, but trust me when I tell you that there is more going on and the easiest way to clear all of this up is for us to actually speak with each other face to face. So please wait until then before you decide to never speak with me again, before I even have the chance to explain what has happened since you and everyone else disappeared." he said in tone that easily conveyed to her that this was extremely important to him and that it shouldn't be taken lightly. So she decided right then that the least she could was wait until they actually got to speak with each other before jumping to any conclusions, especially since for all he knew she and everyone else died seven years ago.

"Natsu we need to leave in the next ten minutes if we want to make it to Crocus before the Grand Magic Games start." said the woman, now right outside of the door. Something that Erza could only tell because of Natsu's enhanced senses that she was surprised didn't overwhelm her.

"Shit, well I guess if we see each other sooner than what I initially had planned there really isn't anything I can do about it. Bye Erza." he said before releasing his magic, which was more than enough to destroy the link but not before giving a certain knight a rough idea of how strong he now was.

 **Back with everyone else in the woods:**

"Oh thank goodness, I didn't know if you were ever going to come back to us." stated Meredy with a nervous chuckle as she wiped away the sweat that was forming on her forehead with the back of her arm.

"Seriously Erza, what in the world were you thinking? Doing something as reckless as that before you even knew what could possibly have gone wrong, that seems more like something that hooligan would do." scolded Carla, only for Wendy to start glaring at her for still calling Natsu a hooligan like she sometimes did before.

"I saw him." replied Erza, completely disregarding the white Exceed's comment to her.

"Really?" asked the three members of Repentant Heart in a slightly nervous tone that none of the Fairy Tail members noticed since they were more concerned in finding out about their old guild member.

"What did he look like?" asked Lucy in an excited tone.

"Did he look like Master Viridian?" asked Jet nervously, something that the Repentant Heart members wanted to ask but couldn't for obvious reasons. But rather than any of them getting an answer from the scarlet haired knight, they were shocked to see her start blushing up a storm.

"Oh, now I've got a good idea what he was wearing. Or should I say the lack of cloathing?" asked Ultear with a smug grin, as she and the rest of her guild were glad to learn that they didn't mess anything up for him like they were starting to fear.

"What in the world are you talking about Ultear?" asked Levy, only for her to finally figure it out and also start blushing up a storm like Erza currently was.

"So did you get a good look at you know what?" asked the time mage, enjoying the state that Erza was currently in. Who was trying to answer her question, but was just mumbling nonsensical things that eventually let the other women of their group figure out what she might have seen. Needless to say, Ultear and Meredy had fun with this for the next few minutes since it wasn't every day that multiple women of Fairy Tail were reduced to a state like this.

"That's enough of this pointless chatter, especially since Master Viridian sent us here to offer you a solution to your current predicament in lack of power." stated Jellal, knowing that Meredy and Ultear would continue having fun with them until the games actually started if they were given the chance to.

"True, but I wouldn't mind hearing what Natsu currently looks like since it's been years since I last saw him." replied Ultear as she disregarded the raised eyebrow she got from him and turned to look at Erza. Who after a few seconds recomposed herself and gave them all a pretty vivid description of his current appearance, one that the men of the group really didn't care for since the women seemed extremely interested in it for obvious reasons.

"It makes sense that he'd be bigger now." stated Levy with a slight blush as she imagined the picture that Erza had just clearly described for all of them.

"I can't believe he's lost an eye." said Lucy with a sad look that was also on Wendy's face at the moment for the same reason.

"Why didn't he get a new one like you did Erza?" asked Happy with a confused look as he sat down on the woman's right shoulder. A spot that he was extremely glad to be in after the next few seconds since none of the woman's anger was directed towards him.

"Probably because the people he thought were his family turned him away before he could even talk with Porlyusica about fixing it." she replied while glaring daggers at Jet and Droy, both of them cowering under the stare sent their way.

"If he had wanted to he still could have visited her, so I'm guessing that there is a different reason for him not getting it replaced." suggested Meredy with a nervous smile since it seemed like Erza was extremely close to actually attacking the two she was glaring at.

"You're probably correct Meredy, and I always knew that he'd become quite the looker when he grew up." said Ultear, which got Erza to turn on her like she thought she would. "Next time I see him I'll have to see if he's interested in possibly starting something." she continued, causing Erza to grind her teeth and glare at the woman. But that was all the knight could do at the moment since she herself was slightly confused with her current feelings towards the fire dragon slayer.

"Let's finally get to the real reason that we're all here." stated Jellal in a tired tone.

"I'm with Jellal on this, whatever it is we're willing to do it." declared Gray in a confident tone, who just like Jellal was growing tired of all the needless chatter that the girls were doing. Probably a little more tired of it since it seemed to mainly involve a certain pink haired rival of his that he knew was definitely stronger than him at the moment. But he was hoping to soon change that with the help of the members from Repentant Heart, even if he still thought something was off with them.

"We'll see about that Gray, but as a fair warning to all of you. What I've been instructed to offer you as a way of increasing your magic is extremely painful." warned Ultear with a smirk that reminded them all that she used to be a dark mage for a reason.

"I will do it if it means that I'll get closer to Natsu's level." stated Erza, causing the rest of the members of Fairy Tail to look at her curiously since it sounded like she thought that even after getting this power boost she still wouldn't be at his level. But they could tell by the determined look on the knight's face at the moment that they would have to ask her at a later time.

 **June 30th X791 Crocus at the Honey Bone Lodge:**

"So you're saying that you believe that Natsu is somewhere in the city?" asked Makarov after he and a few other members listened to Erza tell them about what she saw and heard while linked to him.

"Not believe, I know that he's here." she stated with a determined look.

"Just like you know that he's Master Viridian as well?" replied Cana with a small grin.

"Yes, just like that which we'll be able to prove once we win these games. And even if we don't he said that he'll definitely visit us after they're all done." she declared while giving the guild drunk a slight glare.

"These games are definitely going to be quite interesting this year to say the least." stated Makarov with a knowing smile spread across his lips after he set down his mug of beer. "But what I'm more interested in is Natsu being able to tell that it was you who linked up to him, and what you described as an overwhelming amount of power coming from him before the connection was lost." he said before taking another swig of his drink. Erza assumed that he would want to talk about those two things, but she was really hoping that he would gloss over the fact that he knew it was her connected to him.

"I honestly don't know how he knew it was me Master, and from what I could tell his level of power seemed to be equivalent to Gildarts or higher." she replied with a straight face as a few of the members listening couldn't help but spit out their drinks in complete shock after hearing this.

"You've got to be pulling our legs, not even Natsu could become that strong in seven years." replied Cana with a look of disbelief plastered on her face.

"Cana is right, there is no way Flame Brain could be that strong now." started Gray as a few others joined in with him, saying similar things about it not being possible.

"Sorry but I'm going to have to disagree with all of you on that one." said Gajeel loud enough to get everyone's attention.

"And why do you think that Gajeel?" asked Levy since everyone else was too shocked about him thinking Natsu might actually be that strong to speak.

"Simple, did any of you ever see Salamander slack off while he was still a member of the guild?" he asked back, as a few hands shot into the air. "And him getting into fights at the guild don't count since he actually used all of those times to hone his skills." he stated causing most of the hands to go back down.

"He would always break into my place to sleep during the day." said Lucy with a fond smile as she thought back to how often that exact thing would occur.

"But that was always after he got done with one of his training sessions." chimed in Happy from atop of Erza's shoulder. A place he found out recently that he could get away with almost saying anything so long as it didn't annoy the woman, since no one dared to come after him in fear of what Erza might do to them.

"A perfect example of Salamander always trying to improve himself so that he could eventually find his dragon. Something that I'm sure he's been trying to accomplish this whole time, probably even devoting more time to it since he didn't belong to a guild anymore." said Gajeel as if it should have been obvious.

"We all know that he would do almost anything to reunite with Igneel, but I still don't think that is good enough of a reason to believe he's now on Gildarts' level. What do you think about all of this Master?" asked Gray as they all then turned to see what Makarov's opinion on all of this was.

"I believe that Gajeel's explanation as to why he might have been motivated to get this strong is valid. And I also believe that Erza was able to detect his magic power accurately, since that is a necessity for all S-Class mages." he replied, getting shocked expressions from most of his guild members. "But the main reason that I believe he is now possibly at Gildarts' level is because I always knew he was capable of achieving that if given enough time." he stated with a proud grin as the rest of them were still stunned at how strong Natsu might have gotten over the past few years.

"Either way I'm going to head out and see if I can find him out in the city before we're required to be in our rooms." stated Erza as she got up from her seat and head towards the door. This caused a few of them to snap out of their dazed looks and go back to what they were doing before, which for most of them was drinking.

"Wait for me Erza!" yelled Lucy as she jumped out of her chair and chased after the knight and Exceed that were hoping to run into their wayward friend.

"I wonder if he's really in town." said Wendy as she watched the small group disappear through the front doors of the inn.

"There really is only one way to find out, and didn't you want to go and see the royal gardens?" asked Carla with a small smile as Wendy looked at her with a shocked expression.

"I did, but I really don't think that is something he would be interested in." replied Wendy as a slight frown started to come over her face.

"True, but on our way there you might be able to pick up his scent." pointed out the white Exceed with a smug grin as Wendy brought her into a hug and was out the door before anyone else could get a word in.

"Well she's awfully excited at possibly seeing him again." stated Levy with a little smirk.

"She did look up to Salamander like an older brother, and I honestly wouldn't mind running into him if he truly is as strong as Titania claims he is." replied Gajeel as he too got up and headed towards the exit.

"Are you also heading out hoping to run into him?" she asked in disbelief as he continued to walk away from her.

"If it happens then it happens, but sitting around here and drinking like we are still at the guild doesn't sound too exciting to me at the moment. So if you and Lily want to tag along I won't stop you." he stated as the two he mentioned quickly followed after him with slight smiles since that was as close as either of them were going to get as an invitation from the dragon slayer.

"Leave it to Natsu to somehow still be able to cause this much excitement while not even being here." said Mira with a bright smile as she then proceeded to order a few drinks for herself and her siblings that were currently sitting with her at a table.

"He can't help but constantly bring me headaches." replied Makarov, not even trying to hide the smile he had while saying that. He was truly hoping that one of his brats would find the idiot and bring him back so they could all catch up and see how he was doing.

 **A few hours later in one of the many plazas scattered across Crocus:**

"I can't believe we haven't seen a single person with pink hair like him at all yet." said Lucy in a tired tone as she hung her head in disappointment.

"It's definitely not a very common hair color." replied Erza still somehow having a smile despite having zero luck with locating the dragon slayer they were after.

"And it's not pink Lucy! It's salmon for crying out loud, I would have thought that you of all people would know that by now!" stated Happy while glaring at her from his perch on top of Erza's right shoulder. Getting an angry glare back from the blonde, who couldn't do much else since she didn't want to risk ruining the knight's happy mood that she seemed to have more often after she linked up with Natsu a few days ago.

"Happy does raise a very good point Lucy, Natsu wouldn't be too happy if he overheard you calling his hair the incorrect color like you just did." said Erza with a slight smirk as Lucy let out a frustrated gasp. Now wondering why she decided to tag along with the two of them if they were just going to gang up on her like they have been so far.

But before Lucy could voice her thoughts she and the other two noticed a small crowd of people gathered around something that was clearly interesting. So giving each other a quick glance the two women decided to see what all the commotion was about. What they found shocked them, in the middle was a small clearing that had a few severely beaten up guys scattered about. And in the center of it all were two men, the one with black hair that matched his overall dark outfit seemed to be bored and looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but there. While the other one, who was a blonde seemed to be the polar opposite of his friend if you went by the huge smile that he had spread across his lips. And the differences didn't stop there; his outfit was also almost the complete opposite of his friend's. He had brighter colors and showed off more of himself unlike the other one who pretty much had everything covered by at least one layer of clothing.

"Man you guys are just pathetic, how can you even consider yourselves mages when you're this weak?" asked the blonde as he kicked one of the already taken out men on the ground. This caused the poor man to let out a pained groan as he skidded back a few feet while clutching his gut in agony.

"Let's go Sting, they really weren't worth our time." stated the black haired boy as he glanced over at the two Fairy Tail members for a brief second.

"You got that right Rogue, and to think they actually thought they had a chance at the games this year." chuckled out Sting, only to stop and look over at Erza who was now giving off a deadly aura. "And what do we have here?" he asked while looking at the three members of Fairy Tail with an even bigger grin.

"People who won't sit by and watch a couple of thugs beat up mages weaker than them." replied Erza as she continued to glare at him as he started to laugh, which only infuriated the knight even more than she already was.

"You three really don't know who we are, do you?" he asked while holding his gut like it might explode.

"Doesn't matter who the hell you are when you're treating others as poorly as you two are right now." she declared as Happy hopped off of her shoulder and started to float behind Lucy just in case he needed to help her dodge a spell sent her way.

"Sting I really think we should head back to the guild before we get into trouble with the game officials." said Rogue, who for some reason felt like he shouldn't mess with the red haired woman if he wanted to not be severely injured. But the most confusing part of this feeling for him was that he had the strange suspicion that it wouldn't be her that would be brutally beating them up. And that wasn't to say that she couldn't actually do it herself, but he knew that whoever this other person was that they were definitely someone he didn't want to upset.

"Come on Rogue, what could be the harm in letting a few other newbies know why they shouldn't mess with the twin dragon slayers of Sabertooth. The number one guild in all of Fiore." declared Sting as he started to do a few stretches.

"But I thought Repentant Heart was the number one guild in the Country?" asked Lucy, causing Sting to come to a complete stand still while his face contorted into one of anger.

"Those rejects are nothing compared to us and they only got lucky last year." he growled out between clenched teeth.

"Interesting, because from what I heard they wiped the floor with everyone there." replied Erza with a smug grin.

"That's complete bullshit, and why the hell are you even bringing them up? Are you a member or could you two be their only two fans in the whole country?" he asked with a smirk.

"Sounds to me like someone is a sore loser, and we're neither of those two are correct. We both happen to be members of Fairy Tail." She stated with pride, not expecting Sting to break into laughter after hearing that last part.

"Oh you've gotta be joking." he chuckled only to see the guild emblem that they were both proudly sporting. "You guys don't honestly think you stand a chance at winning do you? Because I'm sorry to break it to you, but your time at the top has come to an end." he stated with a smug grin now reappearing on his face. That caused both of the women to grit their teeth in anger, each of them wanting nothing more than to beat the living shit out of the blonde in front of them.

"Come on Sting, you've had your fun now let's leave before this becomes worse than it already is." stated Rogue as he actually started to look a little nervous as he would occasionally look around for some unknown person.

"Why in the world would I do that? I mean these two Fairies decided to stick their little noses where they didn't belong." he said with a smirk since it was easy for him to tell that he was already underneath their skin. "I mean they're from a has been guild, that still doesn't realize that they're no longer relevant. Especially after they lost Salamander, the only reason that they were ever actually on my radar in the first place." he finished with a sly grin.

"We'll see if you're still thinking that after we beat you this year." hissed out Erza, since it took everything she had to not rush the arrogant bastard and put him in his place.

"I guess we will, but considering that you're from the same guild that Salamander belonged to I don't think we'll have much to worry about." he stated as he started to walk away from them.

"If anything that should make you more concerned about us." said Lucy as she glared at the two retreating dragon slayers. This comment of hers caused Sting to come to standstill, which eventually caused Rogue to stop as well as he looked at his partner with a knowing look.

"Seriously Sting, we really should get going." said Rogue, already knowing that his pleas were falling on deaf ears.

"Sorry Rogue but I think these two need to learn that Salamander was nothing but a fraud." he said with a smug grin spread across his face as he turned back to the members of Fairy Tail.

"What the hell did you just say about Natsu?" asked Erza as her magic started to flare up.

"I said that he was a fraud, I mean he didn't even kill a dragon so what right did he have to call himself a dragon slayer." answered Sting, expecting Erza to charge at him in a blind rage. But instead she and the other two had smug grins on their faces as they looked at him.

"Are you trying to say that the two of you have?" she asked with a laugh of her own.

"That's exactly what we're saying." he replied, glad to see a shocked look came over the three of them.

"Where in the world did you find a dragon to kill?" asked Happy with wide eyes.

"The ones that raised us of course." he stated, chuckling at the look of horror they were now giving him. "Don't tell me that you three are as foolish as Salamander and actually thought of them as parents?" he asked with a little chuckle.

"Of course we do, they took you in and raised you as their own." shouted Lucy as her hatred for the two of them grew even more. Well it was all mainly directed at the blonde who was the one antagonizing them and saying all of these terrible things to them.

"Then you're just as stupid as Salamander was, and it's probably because of that stupidity of his that he's dead right now. Which is quite the shame since I would have really enjoyed showing him what a real dragon slayer is like." stated Sting, who finally took notice that Erza currently had her head down so he couldn't see her face anymore.

"He's not dead, and you'll never be half the man that he is which also applies for being a true dragon slayer as well." said Erza in a quiet voice that he could barely hear over the noises coming from the crowd still gathered around them.

"If he's not dead then where in the world has he been all these years? But I guess if he actually is alive then it just means that he's a coward and a weakling that is too afraid to show himself." he replied, which was the last straw for Erza. But before she could move to teach Sting a lesson that he soon wouldn't forget, everyone gathered there found it all of a sudden extremely hard to remain standing.

"Well if it isn't the twin dragon slayers of Sabertooth." stated Viridian as he casually walked up to the two that now looked completely terrified at the mere sight of him. "And from what I can tell it would appear that the two of you got into a fight with another guild that intended to compete in the games. Which I'm sure you both know is a punishable offence if I'm not mistaken, but what is the punishment again for doing what you two just did?" he asked with a tone that sounded like he had the biggest shit eating grin on his face that was currently hidden by his hood.

"If I recall correctly, which I do, that is ground for both of them to be banned from competing in this year's game and the one after it." replied an unknown member of Repentant Heart that suddenly appeared behind the two dragon slayers with four other Repentant Heart members as well.

"Please Master Viridian, don't report us." begged Sting as he fell to his knees in front of the man.

"I knew something like this was going to happen." mumbled Rogue as he gave his partner a quick glare.

"And why would I do something like that Sting? Especially after hearing you badmouth someone that isn't even here to defend himself." asked Viridian as he knelt down so he was face to face with Sting. "But I guess that isn't true anymore since I'm standing right in front of you now." he whispered only loud enough for Sting to hear him as he let out more of his magic to terrify the blonde some more. But what scared Sting the most was the figure of a menacing red dragon standing behind Viridian, covered in not only his own red flames but also the green ones that the man before him was known for.

"What?" asked the completely shocked dragon slayer as he looked up at Viridian.

"You heard me Sting, but mention this to a single soul and you and whoever else you told will randomly go missing without leaving a single trace for even a dragon slayer to track." he whispered once again only loud enough for the light dragon slayer to hear, while the dragon behind him looked to be snarling at him threateningly.

"Well seeing as how it looks like Little Sting here has learned his lesson I guess I'll let this one slide, but just so you both know I only give someone a warning once. After that I always do what I promised I would if they are stupid enough to do whatever I told them not to." he said while looking at Sting who looked even more terrified than he did just a few seconds ago. And with that said he and the rest of his guild currently with him started to walk away as if this was just a normal day for them.

"Wait Master Viridian, didn't you want to speak with us?" asked Lucy, who was surprised that Erza had yet to speak up and didn't look like she would any time soon.

"I did, but as you all should know by now I've decided to wait until after the games for us to have our little chat. So until then you'll have to wait until to ask me a question for there to even be a remote chance of you getting an answer in return." he said while continuing to walk away from them.

"Okay I guess." she replied as he and the rest of the Repentant Heart members disappeared into the crowd that moved out of the way for them. That soon became full of chatter about seeing Master Viridian and a few of his mysterious guild members, most of it was about some of their more recent exploits.

"So could either of you tell if it was Natsu? Because to me at least it sounded nothing like him." stated Lucy as she turned to look at her two companions.

"He also didn't sound like Natsu to me, and it also didn't smell like him either." replied Happy with a slight frown.

"What about you Erza?" she asked while looking at the knight that was staring at the still terrified Sting.

"I don't know either, but whatever he said to him must have really been terrifying to reduce him to that." stated Erza as she pointed to Sting who was still on his knees slightly shaking in fear.

"Serves him right, who the hell does he think he is speaking about Natsu and the rest of us like that." she replied with a scoff as they started to head back towards their inn so they would be sure to make it there well before they had to be back.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **As always thanks for taking the time to read my story, which I truly hope you enjoyed reading. And I know that barely anything happened in it, but it set everything up for the starting of the actual Grand Magic Games. Which I still haven't decided what I'm going to do about adding Repentant Heart to it, I of course could just have it where there are nine teams this year. Or I could also have it where one of the other guilds is knocked out of the running such as Raven Tail, but that would be getting rid of a lot of potentially really interesting plot. Either way I would like to hear all of your thoughts on this and anything else you might want to say to me. Which you can either do in a review or PM if you want it to not be public knowledge.**

 **Oh and if you would like me to update faster or possibly start a new story I have information about my page that I set up on my profile page.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	8. A Step Closer

Ch 8: A Step Closer

 **June 30th X791 in the Royal Flower Garden:**

"They're so beautiful!" exclaimed Wendy as she raced over to the next flower exhibit, which happened to be a flower that only bloomed during the night.

"Indeed they are." replied Carla with a bright smile. "But I thought that you wanted to look for him a little more before we needed to head back to the lodge?" asked the white Exceed as she followed after the young dragon slayer.

"I do, but so far I haven't even caught the faintest trace of his scent." stated Wendy as a small frown started to form on her once happy expression. An expression that usually would have had the white Exceed extremely worried for her, but this time it was partially her own fault.

"Are you sure that isn't just because of all these flowers?" asked her exceed while rolling her eyes at the foolishness of her longtime friend. Honestly she was a little worried that Fairy Tail's crazy antics were starting to rub off on the young and impressionable dragon slayer.

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that." replied Wendy while also letting out a nervous little giggle and once again having a smile wash over her face.

"What am I going to do with you child?" she asked with a faint smile on the edges of her lips.

"Then let's go and look around before we head back!" declared Wendy as she happily took off for the exit of the garden, but came to a stop when she realized that Carla wasn't following her. As she turned back to look at her Exceed companion, she was met with a familiar look which meant that her friend was currently having a vision.

"Look out Wendy!" screamed Carla all of a sudden as she snapped out of her daze. But it looked like she was going to be too late since the weird creature she saw in her premonition was already lunging at the blue haired mage. At that moment it seemed as if time slowed down for all of them, Wendy slowly turning around just in time to see the thing coming at her but unable to do anything else. While Carla was in a similar situation, where all she could do was sit back and watch as her best friend was about to be attacked.

But something completely unexpected happened in the next second, which was the small black creature plummeting straight into the ground before it could reach Wendy. Where it remained as the ground underneath it started to buckle and form a small crater that grew with each passing second. The poor thing looked to be in extreme pain as it tried to just lift its head, but all that seemed to do was cause it to sink even further into the ground.

"Looks like I got here just in time." said a deep voice as a man casually strolled into the garden. The two Fairy Tail mages quickly twirled around to look at the man clearly from Repentant Heart given the outfit he was currently wearing. An attire that mainly consisted of black with a few accents of green here and there, with the emblem of their guild on the back of his hooded coat.

"Who are you and what is that thing?" demanded Carla as she quickly got in between Wendy and the stranger that just happened to appear out of nowhere when they needed help.

"I've been called a lot of things over the years." replied the man as he did a few quick hand gestures. Gestures that the other two thought might be some sort of attack sent their way, but in the end they turned out to only be meant for the creature behind them. That was then sent flying into another wall and ricocheted around until once again being pummeled into the ground where it was pinned like before.

"Wandering Death, the Green Inferno, Slavers Bane are just a few of the recent ones over the last few years. But most people refer to me as Master Viridian or Viridian Death these days, really depends on who you're talking to." he said while walking past them and towards the despicable creature that tried to harm Wendy.

"You're the Master of Repentant Heart." said Carla in both shock and disbelief. She was so preoccupied in watching him that she didn't even notice the look that her partner currently had on her face.

"Yep, but before we have a little chat I first need to get rid of the trash that's stinking up the place." he replied as he bent over and picked up the creature by the back of its neck. While the poor creature still looked to be under whatever force that was keeping it smashed against the ground. "I don't know what your Master had planned for these two, but so long as I'm around you won't lay a finger on them or anyone else. And you can also tell that to your real Master as well, but I've got a feeling that he already knows that. So you should go and tell the one that you pretend to be serving that I won't hesitate to strike him down in front of the whole country if he tries anything funny during these games." he said before hitting the black creature into the sky where it soon disappeared from their sight.

"Well now that, that is over, why don't…" Viridian started to say until he was tackled to the ground by Wendy hugging him for dear life.

"You're still alive!" she cried out as she buried her face into his chest, trying to hide her teary face from him.

"What in the world did you do to her!" shouted out Carla as she angrily flew at him, not really with any sort of plan in mind other than trying to get Wendy away from him. But just as she was a foot away from him the ever present shadow obscuring his face faded way to reveal a very familiar grin and pink hair.

"It's good to see the both of you." replied Natsu in his normal voice that they both remembered so clearly, a voice that just oozed with warmth and a bit of mischievousness mixed in. "I didn't really plan on us meeting like this, but I couldn't just sit back and watch now could I?" he asked with his signature grin as he hugged back the girl clinging to his chest.

"So she was right about you being him." stated Carla as she floated in front of the two that were still embracing each other.

"I can only guess you're referring to Erza since no one else in the guild would be so stubborn to keep believing that I could become what I am now." he said with a small smile spreading across his lips.

"Yes, but you can't really blame the rest of us since you've changed more than any of us would have thought possible." replied the Exceed as she intently inspected their former guild member. And from what she could tell, he had definitely lived a life full of hardships that made him lose that innocence and naivety he was once known for. Now all she could see was a hardened warrior that had refined every aspect of his life to be equipped to handle whatever might be thrown his way.

"Unfortunately not all for the better." he said just above a whisper. "Something that I know you had to have realized isn't that right Wendy?" he asked her with a sad smile. A smile that the poor girl had to look away from as she went back to hugging him, trying to let him know that it didn't matter to her.

"What does he mean by that Wendy?" asked Carla after watching the two of them silently for two minutes.

"That he's killed, and will probably keep doing so." she replied as she wiped away the last of her tears so that she could finally look up at him properly. "But that doesn't matter to me Natsu, and I'm sure that it wouldn't matter to the rest of the guild either." she said while giving him her brightest smile.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that Wendy." he said with a weak smile. "Fairy Tail has always had an unwritten rule about never killing anyone, despite whatever they might have done or are planning to do. A rule that I still believe in today, which is one of the main reasons that I still haven't gone back to see them again." he finished as they finally separated from each other.

"But why?" she asked with a confused expression as she locked eyes with him, demanding that he explain himself.

"While you were all gone I've unfortunately seen the worst that this world has to offer. And because of that I know that sometimes there truly isn't another option out there other than ending the life of whoever might be threatening countless others." he answered as he got up and dusted himself off.

"If that's the case then why do you even care about a stupid rule like that?" she asked while slightly glaring at him, because it seemed to her at least that he was just coming up with excuses right now.

"Because I don't want to see you or the rest of guild turn into anyone similar to what I am now." he responded with a prominent frown. "All of you are still capable of being better than I could have ever hoped to be." he finished as he turned away from the two of them. This meant that he wasn't able to see the look of disbelief Wendy was currently giving him after hearing that, or Carla having a similar look.

"As you already know, I've never been a big fan of yours given how you used to be for the lack of a better words. An uncivilized brute that didn't know how to do anything other than destroying things and how to get into as many fights as physically possible." declared Carla as she glared at the back of Natsu.

"Carla!" exclaimed Wendy as she looked at her partner with a look of horror.

"Let me finish Wendy!" snapped the Exceed, which caught the older dragon slayer's attention since that was pretty much unheard of. "But what you've now become over the last seven years is someone I don't mind Wendy looking up to. Of course I don't want her to start killing or anything like that, but it's undeniable that because of you countless lives have been saved. And from what I've heard and read, the world has only gotten more dangerous so it's only natural that old and outdated ideas need to adapt." she finished while going back to glaring at the male of their little group.

"True, but valuing all lives shouldn't be one of them." he replied as he looked up at the night sky.

"I completely agree with you Natsu, but why does that mean you can't come back to us?" asked Wendy as she came up to his side and looked up at him.

"If it was just a few years earlier then there really wouldn't be anything stopping me other than that. But now I've got my own guild to look after and a whole list of other responsibilities that make it pretty much impossible." answered Natsu as he rested his right hand on her head.

"They could come with you." she suggested with a hopeful look on her face as she tried to get his hand off her head but failed miserably.

"Yes they could, but we would still run into the problem of the whole ending someone's life dilemma. Not only that but I'm confident that more than just a few would be opposed to letting some of my members join." he stated as he grinned down at her while messing up her hair one last time.

"They wouldn't have to kill anymore, and we could make the rest of the guild accept them." she argued while giving him her best stern look.

"Actually most of them don't do that anymore." he said with a proud smile starting to spread across his face. "You also know we can't force something like that to happen, and besides Wendy, my guild and I still have a lot of work to do." he finished as they slowly started to make their way out of the gardens.

"Fine, but why can't you still do that while being a member of Fairy Tail?" she asked with a slight pout since she could already tell that he was set on not returning to them just yet.

"I honestly don't remember you ever being this stubborn." he pointed out while chuckling to himself.

"Just one of the few things she picked up from you." said Carla from her stop above Wendy's right shoulder. This seemed to cause the older dragon slayer to keep chuckling while the other one had a proud grin spread across her face. And that grin of hers stayed that way until she remembered that she still wanted an answer from the older dragon slayer.

"Okay Wendy, I'm sure you've heard about some of things I've done while you were all gone." started Natsu as he stopped and looked at her, getting a quick nod of acknowledgement from her. "Then it shouldn't come as a surprise to you that I've gained quite a few enemies along the way. Unfortunately some of them are quite powerful and would love to do anything that would hurt me. And the same thing can also be said about my members as well, which makes my guild a pretty big target." he said while they went back to walking side by side.

"I get that, but we can help protect all of you." she declared in a determined tone that brought a smile to his face.

"And I don't doubt that, but why bring the rest of you guys into our own mess when we don't have to." he said while still smiling at her. "Maybe I should explain the whole reason I created Repentant Heart." he stated while rubbing his chin in thought.

"I definitely wouldn't mind hearing that." chimed in Carla as she flew to the spot in between the two of them.

"So as Carla stated before, the world has somewhat gotten even more dangerous while you were away. Actually in all honesty it hasn't, it's just now been brought to the public's attention, and we were lucky that the dark guilds were kept in line by the Balam Alliance before." he explained while reactivating the shadow that obscured his face from any prying eyes.

"They aren't anymore?" inquired the Exceed as she took notice of him hiding his image once again.

"Fairy Tail did take out two of their heads seven years ago." he replied with a proud grin spread clear across his face. "Tartaros on the other hand went almost completely dark after that, meaning that it pretty much turned into complete chaos in the last three years. Each dark guild is fighting to become the new undisputed leader, which at first meant that they were at each other's throats. But they quickly realized that way of doing things wasn't getting them anywhere, which is one of the reasons why things have become so dangerous for legal mages these days."

"Why?" asked Wendy even though she had a pretty good idea, but she wanted to hear it from him.

"Legal mages are now seen as trophies to dark guilds, the more of them that they can kill brings them and their guild more infamy." he answered with a sneer. "Those sick bastards will even go so far as to take body parts with them as proof." he spat out while standing still and releasing some of his magic, which was enough to destroy the path underneath him in a ten foot radius. Wendy and Carla looked at him wide eyed, both shocked at hearing this since it wasn't in any of the articles that they read to try and catch up on what they missed. And none of the conversations with their fellow guild mates even hinted at something as atrocious as this going on.

"Why don't you tell the two of them what all of the dark guilds decided as a good way of determining which guild would be number one." said Ikaruga from her perch on one of the walls in the garden. Her sudden appearance slightly startled the Fairy Tail mages, but there shock soon turned into curiosity after comprehending what the pink haired sword mistress just said.

"What is it Na…" Wendy started to say until she was cut off by the man she was asking. "Please refer to me as Master Viridian from now on." he said in a stern tone that slightly scared the poor girl to the point that she could only nod her head in acknowledgement.

"Frankly I think it's quite the compliment if you ask me." declared Cobra as he strolled towards their ever growing group with his hood down. Apparently he decided that he no longer wanted to hide his identity, something that his guild mates attributed to a good chunk of Fairy Tail knowing who he was already.

"I'd have to agree with Cobra on that as well." chimed in Ultear as she and Meredy appeared out of thin air to the right of them.

"Were you all following us?" asked Carla as she continued to twirl around and try to spot any more of their guild members before they snuck up on them.

"You could say that, but it would probably be more accurate to say that we were always with our Master but the two of you never noticed. Which I can't really blame you two on since it was quite the touching reunion you all had." she answered with a smug little grin spreading across her face.

"You knew that he was your guild Master and you lied to all of us!" hissed out Wendy as she advanced on the time mage with a menacing look washing over her usual innocent one. Needless to say this caught most of the members of Repentant Heart off guard, but before the girl could even get close to the older woman a hand gently grabbed her shoulder.

"No they didn't Wendy, they said that it wasn't their place to reveal my identity to all of you. And that was because I asked all of them to keep it a secret, which is actually what I'm going to be asking of you two as well." he said while looking at her with a stern look; no longer blocking his face with a shadow so that she could see he wasn't joking about this.

"But why?" she asked in a whimper as she did her best to hold back her tears.

"It's you!" shouted out Carla as she pointed a finger at their pink haired friend. This caused Wendy to forget her oncoming sadness and look at her partner with a confused expression, but she could instantly tell that her Exceed was too shocked to let her in on her current revelation.

"What does she mean by that Na… I mean Master Viridian?" asked the young dragon slayer with a slight pout at no longer being able to call him by his real name.

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Ikaruga with a smirk as she tossed her hair behind her back after jumping down to the ground and walking towards them.

"That's enough Ikaruga." said Natsu as he sent her a quick glare that effectively shut her up. "My head is what they decided would determine who the new number one dark guild in all of the surrounding countries would be." he explained with a little smirk forming at the edge of his lips, which reminded them of the look he'd have when facing off against an extremely dangerous opponent.

"Apparently the rest of our heads are nothing to scoff at either." said Ultear she and the other three members formed up behind Natsu. "But so far everyone that has been foolish enough to attempt such a brash idea has had a rude awakening." she finished with a smirk of her own.

"Those that were able to survive Master Viridian's wrath that is." stated Meredy with a little giggle, which made the two Fairy Tail wizards wonder if she was as normal as they initially thought she was after their first official meeting with her.

"Only a few of them died." pointed out Natsu as he shook his head at his fellow pink haired mage.

"You two shouldn't feel sorry for those bastards, they're lucky that Master Viridian killed them because otherwise I would have drawn it out for at least a month." said Cobra in a venomous tone that caught the duo by surprise.

"What did they do?" asked Carla now looking at the members of Repentant Heart with a skeptical look.

"Let's just say that if they said even a tenth of what they did to my female members to Wendy then you would have been after their heads personally." answered Natsu as he once again activated his hood's shadow. "But that's all in the past now, hopefully you both now have a better understanding why I can't return to all of you just yet. And also why I'm keeping my true identity a secret, which I hope both of you will keep to yourself. Otherwise the consequences will be quite severe." he finished in a stern tone once again.

"Are you threatening us?" shouted out the Exceed in disbelief as she got in between him and Wendy.

"And I was starting to think that you were one of their smarter members." commented Ikaruga, effectively causing the white Exceed to start glaring at her instead of Natsu. "If you had been paying attention to what we were just telling you, then you would have realized that our enemies will do whatever they can to get at us." he explained with a sly grin as a look of realization came over the Fairy Tail mages' faces.

"If that is true, then why are some of your members okay with showing their faces?" asked Wendy as she looked to the pink haired woman that was just talking.

"Well that is where being an ex-dark mage actually comes in handy for most of us." she replied, only for the young girl to have an even more confused expression come over her face. "And what I mean by that is that most of us don't really have anyone outside of our guild that we care about. So in other words our enemies don't have anything that they could use to get to us, unlike our fearless leader here does." she elaborated while patting Natsu on the back at the end.

"And for those of us that do, we had to make a tough decision as to whether we should keep our identities hidden from the rest of the world. Or come up with a different way to protect the ones that we still care about." said Ultear as she lost her smile and actually looked sad.

"Like what?" asked Carla, knowing that Wendy wanted to but didn't after seeing the time mage's sad expression.

"Some of my members thought that it would be better if their loved ones completely forgot about them so there would no longer be any way for our enemies to find out about their connection to them." he answered in a somber tone.

"Something that Master Viridian couldn't do for obvious reasons." stated Ikaruga, who had a somber expression just like the rest of the members of Repentant Heart.

"That's just terrible." said Wendy in a trembling voice as she thought of no longer remembering all of the things Natsu did for her and the rest of Fairy Tail. It would be almost equivalent to getting rid of half of the memories that she made since joining the guild.

"That it is, but precautions like that needed to be made for our guild to function without fear of bringing our problems onto others." declared Natsu as he and the rest of his members started to leave the garden again. "We've all decided to walk the path that is neither dark nor light; knowing full well that there will be more than a few people who see us as nothing but a dark guild. But that doesn't matter since if what fear is coming in the near future does indeed occur, then our only hope of surviving it is for some of the mages on our side being capable of getting their hands dirty." he finished with a prominent frown.

"Then Fairy Tail really should get rid of that silly unwritten rule of theirs." argued Carla as she and Wendy just stood there as the members of Repentant Heart got further away from them.

"And why would you think that?" he asked while giving the two of them a quick glance over his shoulder.

"Because you just said that the country needs more mages willing to do what needs to be done even if that means being looked down upon. Something that Fairy Tail hasn't had a problem with since its founding if what I've read about our history is indeed true." she argued while still making no move to go after the five mages.

"That my dear Exceed is one of the main reasons I started this guild of misfits, well that and giving some of them a second chance that I'm afraid they never would have gotten otherwise." he replied with a smirk as he continued to walk away.

"Why did he just call you an Exceed?" asked Wendy with a confused expression as she looked at her partner. This happened to be the same question running through the Exceed's head right then, but her answer came as soon as she realized that they were close to the exit of the garden.

"Wait Master Viridian!" shouted out the white exceed all of a sudden as she flew after him.

"Yes?" he asked while turning around to look at her.

"I had a vision, and I believe that you might have been in the center of the whole thing." she said as she flew up to him until she was just an inch away from him.

"What did you see?" he asked, only for her to start whispering in his ear. And since she had grown up with a dragon slayer her entire life she was actually capable of speaking so softly that besides Natsu, Cobra was the only other one to hear her.

"And that is the last of the images I can see clearly." she finished with a clearly worried expression on her little face.

"Interesting." was his simple reply before he and the rest of his guild went back to walking away from the Fairy Tail members.

"That's all you have to say!" she shouted out in disbelief since what she caught glimpses of were a possibly very bleak future for all of them.

"Yep, we already knew about that first thing and it's actually why we started to participate in these stupid games. But as for that other disturbing thing you saw, if it happens then it happens, all I can hope is that I've done everything that I needed to by then." he said before he and the rest of his guild went around a corner.

"What did you see Carla?" asked Wendy in a hesitant voice, not really liking Natsu's response to what she could only assume was something that didn't end well for him specifically.

"I think that I might have seen his death." mumbled back the Exceed as she continued to look at the spot that once contained said man in complete disbelief.

"Are you absolutely sure?" she asked while right in the Exceed's face, hoping that she misinterpreted what she saw.

"You know I'm never one hundred percent sure about my visions, Wendy." replied the Exceed in a wavering voice, not being able to look at her partner in the eyes.

"What did you see then?" she demanded, not caring if she was being harsher than she meant to be to her best friend.

"I saw what I now know is Master Viridian in a very pitiful state, there was so much blood." answered Carla as she started to shake her head as the images came back to her. "Everything around him was a complete mess so I have no idea where this is going to take place except for what appears to once be a city." she continued to say just above a whisper. "But some of the guild was there, all of them just looking on in disbelief as Master Viridian slowly fell to the ground with a smile on his lips. And that was the end of that specific scene, or at least I think it was." she finished with her head down in shame.

"He could still be alive even after sustaining that much damage, I mean this is him we're talking about here." pleaded the dragon slayer as she looked at the brink of having a complete breakdown.

"You're right, that buffoon is too stubborn to die." she replied with a bright smile, which she hoped hid her true thoughts.

Thoughts such as even he couldn't survive after receiving all of those wounds she saw on him, just one of them would have brought a normal mage to their knees. And she also couldn't get that smile of his out of her mind; it somehow conveyed so many things in a split second. Now that she knew who the man behind the smile was, it made complete sense that he cared so deeply for all of the Fairy Tail members present at his final moment. But what made the white Exceed so certain that it was his death was a specific detail that she left out while telling this specific vision to both of the dragon slayers.

Right before Master Viridian finally toppled over he said one last thing, which she doesn't know if she couldn't hear because of it just being a vision or him being unable to speak anymore. But she was definitely able to read his lips, which said I'm sorry Fairy Tail, looks like I won't be able to come back like I promised. When Carla first saw this she was completely confused since she knew for a fact that a mage fitting his description wasn't a member of their guild. Unfortunately that was no longer the case and knew exactly who he was, which only made her even more concerned about what they would soon be facing in the future.

"Darn right he is." declared Wendy out loud, clearly trying to convince herself that he wasn't going to be leaving them again. Even though he wasn't really back, but at least she knew that he was more than just fine, he was now one of the strongest wizards in the whole country.

"So what are you going to tell the others?" asked Carla as she watched the girl she has known her entire life start slowly walking out of the garden.

"I don't know, I don't want to lie to them." she replied with a conflicted look coming over her visage. "But after hearing everything that he told us I can understand why he's still keeping his identity hidden. I just don't know anymore, what do you think I should do?" she asked while looking over at the one who was always there to help her through situations similar to this.

"You are an even worse liar than that idiot was while he was still a member of the guild." stated Carla, not caring that Wendy was currently glaring at her for still referring to him as an idiot. "So I suggest that we don't mention what happened here tonight and hope none of them ask what we've been up to this whole time." she finished with a smug grin.

"What time is it anyways?" asked Wendy as they both looked up at the clock tower in the distance. As soon as they both saw it their eyes shot wide open since it was only ten till midnight, the time when Wendy needed to be back in their room. If she wasn't then it would mean that her team wouldn't be able to participate unless they were allowed a substitute.

"Carla!" she started to say in a panicked tone. "I know, stuff like this only seems to happen when he's involved." mumbled Carla as she picked up Wendy and took off as fast as she could to their lodge.

"It probably would have been worse if he hadn't showed up when he did." she pointed out with a big smile spread across her face. Granted that wasn't the reunion she was hoping to have with him, but it was better than none at all since now she knew for certain that he was alive and still fighting the good fight.

"I don't doubt that, but he could have told us how late it was getting." argued Carla as she flew through the sky. She couldn't help the faint smile that slowly spread across her face, as much as she wanted to deny it; Natsu was a big part of their guild. Not only that but he helped guide Wendy into the strong and caring woman that she was growing into, something that she could never thank him enough for or even once for that matter.

 **Seven minutes later at Honeybone Lodge:**

"Where the hell have you two been?" asked Erza as she glared at the two of them as they came crashing in through the window.

"Nice entrance Wendy and Carla!" cheered Happy from his new favorite spot on Erza's right shoulder.

"We were at the Royal Garden and kind of lost track of time." replied Wendy in a nervous tone as she started to fidget around as she looked at her feet.

"That is very unlike the two of you." stated the Scarlet haired Knight as she looked at the two of them skeptically. "But I guess it doesn't matter since you both got here just in the nick of time. So I'll quickly fill you two in on what you missed during our discussion before you got here." she said while standing in front of the window they just crashed through not even a full minute ago.

"We're now for some reason going to crush Sabertooth instead of Repentant Heart, which I still don't understand why you two are so upset." chimed in Gray, only for Erza and Lucy to both start giving him the death glare.

"We're going to destroy those idiots because they were bad mouthing Natsu." growled out Lucy, slightly catching the two newcomers off guard since they never really saw the celestial mage this upset before ever.

"So what, it's not like that is something new. Hell I've been doing that ever since I met the moron." he stated with a clearly confused expression on his face.

"Yes, but you are one of his closest friends, while that blonde haired punk doesn't even know the first thing about him." she shouted back causing Gray to raise his hands up in surrender, hoping that she wouldn't start hitting him again.

"That's enough, but yes that is pretty much the gist of it Wendy. With the small exception that we are still going to beat Repentant Heart as well so Master Viridian has to speak with us like he promised." said Erza with a determined look in her eyes as she continued to stare out the window. The poor blue haired girl wanted to tell all of them right then and there what happened to her and Carla in the gardens, but luckily that was when the preliminaries were announced and subsequently started.

"So all we have to do is make it to the finish line before everyone else?" asked Gray as their team was running up the stairs to the Sky Labyrinth.

"Yes, but I have a feeling it won't be as simple as that." replied Erza from the front of the group.

"Who did Master decide was going to be our fifth member since Natsu didn't return?" asked Wendy from the middle of the group.

"Oh come on, are we really that forgettable!" shouted out Jet only to jump back when Erza twirled around to glare at him.

"Yes you guys are!" she shouted at him. "And you are lucky Master explicitly ordered me to not harm you otherwise you wouldn't have been in any condition to compete today or for the rest of the month after I was through with you. But that doesn't matter since Master said that I could do that if you don't pull your weight in these games." she said while twisting around and going back to running up the stairs.

"You probably should have just kept your mouth shut." mumbled Gray as he patted the speedster on the shoulder before following after the three women in the lead.

"No kidding." replied Jet, only to finally realize what the knight said at the end which caused him to go extremely pale.

"Get your sorry ass up here this instant Jet!" she shouted from the entrance of the Sky Labyrinth with the rest of the team.

"Yes Ma'am!" he shouted back before appearing right next to them while slightly hiding behind Gray.

"So what's the plan?" asked Lucy as she started to marvel at the intricacy of the floating maze they just stepped into.

"Given the name I can only assume that there will be so many routes that it will become very confusing as soon as we head in." said Erza as she tried to come up with a solution to not getting lost in the maze. "We also have to remember about all of the other guilds competing since the rules didn't say anything about no fighting." she said only to be cut off by someone shouting at them.

"So Fairy Tail is once again trying to compete in these games." said a man with a huge club resting on his shoulder.

"Do we know them?" asked Wendy with a confused look as the man and his four other teammates continued to head towards them with a look of disgust on all of their faces.

"Those are just some of the members of Twilight Ogre." answered Jet as he glared back at the men.

"Yes we are, and now that you sorry excuses of mages have paid your debt we can treat you like we would anyone else." replied the leader as he slammed his club into the floor and caused a decent amount of cracks to spread out from it.

"So these are the ones you were talking about that took advantage of the guild while we were gone?" asked Erza as her and Gray's hair covered their eyes.

"That we are, and now that you guys no longer have that freak protecting you I can finally get my revenge for what happened that day." shouted out the leader as he started to swing his club around effortlessly.

"Thibault we weren't supposed to say anything about that." squeaked out one of his teammates as he started to frantically look around for someone.

"Like I give a fuck what that bastard says, Vi…" Thibault started to say until two of his own men jumped him from behind and covered his mouth.

"What in the hell is going on?" asked Lucy only to look at the rest of her team and realize that they were just as confused as she was.

"I was going to enjoy beating the shit out of them, but now I'm starting to think that something is seriously wrong with them." stated Gray as they watched the other team fight each other.

"I think we still should, and at least that way there will be one less team to have to worry about." said Erza as she drew her sword and slowly started to head towards the unsuspecting team. But before she even got close to them a cloaked figure with the Repentant Heart emblem on the back of it appeared above the Twilight Ogre team.

"Looks like you fools need another reminder." said the figure in an awfully quiet voice; it was low enough that only Wendy could hear him. But it appeared to be just loud enough for the members of Twilight Ogre to instantly stop and look up at the floating figure in complete fear.

"We stopped him before he could say anything more." stuttered out one of the members while pointing to the restrained Thibault on the ground.

"Good, then that means he's the only one that needs a refresher." said the figure as the winds started to pick up around all of them. This caused the members of Twilight Ogre to let go of Thibault, which allowed said man to start rising into the air to all of their surprise. None were more surprised or terrified than Thibault, who looked like he was staring down the devil himself.

"It'll never happen again, I promise." begged Thibault as he thrashed around in the air, trying to grab onto anything solid enough to keep him firmly on the ground.

"You're lucky that I'm a new man." replied the figure, causing Thibault to let out a sigh of relief before being launched out of the arena. And he wasn't the only one thrown around by the sudden burst of wind, the rest of his team were all sent flying. Even the members of Fairy Tail had to slightly brace themselves against the onslaught of ferocious wind.

"You Fairies better start moving if you are going to have even the slightest chances of placing in the top five." said the Repentant Heart member before fading away into nothingness.

"Shit that guy really freaks me out." mumbled Gray as he shook his head.

"You've met Whirlwind before?" asked Jet while looking at the ice mage with a stunned expression.

"Talk while we run!" ordered Erza already charging further into the Labyrinth, knowing that the Repentant Heart member was correct about them needing to hurry.

"We met him when we visited their guild." answered Gray as he took up his place to Erza's right.

"And he made it pretty clear that he could take all of us on at once." said Lucy as she took up the spot on Erza's left.

"That's pretty odd, he's one of their most mysterious members and from what I've heard all that is really known about him is that he's an air mage that barely ever talks." stated Jet as he easily caught back up with them.

"He's not just any air mage, what he's capable of doing, I didn't even know it was possible." said Wendy with a slight frown, ashamed that some regular mage was able to best her with her own element.

"None of those mages in that guild are normal, I think they're closer to Monsters!" he replied with a slight yelp of surprise as the floor all of a sudden shifted underneath them. But before he could even fall more than a few feet he felt a gust of air start spinning him until he was dropped on the new platform that the rest of his team were on.

"They're not monsters." she said in a defensive tone before turning away from them and taking off like a certain pink haired dragon slayer was known to do.

"Wendy, wait up!" shouted Erza as she took off after the little girl. "What's gotten into you and where are you going?" she asked while running right next to the young dragon slayer.

"It's not fair, all they've ever done since becoming a guild is help who knows how many hundreds of people with their problems. But instead of being treated like any other guild, they're seen as what they used to be or even worse." she said while not breaking her stride that was surprisingly fast.

"I know Wendy, but that will just take more time." replied the Knight, who was now slightly curious why the usually shy girl next to her was sticking up for a guild she didn't really know.

"But what if they don't have enough time for that?" she asked back while turning down a few different paths.

"Why in the world would you be worried about that?" asked Erza as she quickly glanced back to make sure that the rest of her team was still behind the two of them.

"Never mind Erza, and I decided that the quickest way to get to the end would probably be to follow Whirlwind's scent." she said while giving her nose a quick tap as she smiled at her redheaded friend.

"Good thinking Wendy." congratulated Erza, which only caused the young girl's smile to grow even bigger. "That is probably exactly what Natsu would have done if he was with us." she said as a determined look came over her visage.

"I know." replied Wendy, while wondering to herself if Natsu specifically told Whirlwind to say hello to them for that exact reason.

 **A few minutes later:**

"Congratulations Fairy Tail! You've once again made it to the Grand Magic Games!" announced the mascot of the games, which happened to be a little man with an enormous pumpkin for his head and went by Mato.

"Did we get second place?" asked Gray, knowing that there was no way for them to get first since they followed Whirlwind's scent there.

"Nope, you guys actually came in fourth!" he replied with a huge smile.

"It's at least better than not placing at all." pointed out Lucy as their group was being ushered out of the way.

"True Lucy, but that won't be good enough from here on out." stated Erza as they were then teleported back to their room.

"Didn't Master Viridian say we only needed to be in the top three spots." stated Jet, hoping that reminding the Knight would help her relax a little.

"That he did, but he also said that he expects to see great things from us. And what would accomplish that more than coming in first?" she asked him back with an eyebrow raised.

"I don't know, maybe showing off our other qualities that can't always be seen in a fight like he said at last year's game." answered the speedster.

"And like you would be capable of showing something like that." she snapped back at him. "The person that single handedly chased away someone that has saved our guild more than anyone else." she said before storming out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

"I think I should probably go after her." stated Lucy as she got up to follow after the angry knight.

"No need Lucy, I've got it." replied Wendy as she instead ran to the window and jumped out of it with Happy and Carla right behind her.

"She's acting more and more like that flaming idiot each day." said Gray with a little chuckle. "And I know that this is going to make me sound like a complete ass, but I'm kind of glad you're the one Erza gets upset with now. As long as I keep referring to Ash for Breath like I usually do she doesn't even care after your little incident with him." he finished with a little smirk sent Jet's way.

"That does make you sound like an ass, and are you even the least bit concerned about Natsu?" asked Lucy as she glared at Gray, knowing that her glare didn't even compare to Erza's.

"Nope, and I honestly don't know why Erza is, I mean that pink haired idiot is too dumb to die before meeting all of us again." he answered before plopping down into his own bed, having somehow stripped to his boxers since his last comment.

"You really are one of his best friends." she said in a teasing tone, which only caused the ice mage to start mumbling stuff as he turned away from her.

"I honestly didn't mean it." said Jet as he sat down on his bed with a sad look now on display. "I was just so angry when he finally came back after being away for more than three years. Three years that we really could have used him since because of those terrible years we almost had to shut down." he said in somber tone. "I know it was wrong, but I couldn't help but wonder why he got to return while the rest of you didn't. Do you think either of those two will ever forgive me?" he asked out loud while looking up at the ceiling.

"I bet Natsu has already forgiven you, as for Erza, she'll probably forgive you once he's back with us." said Lucy with a cheery smile, because that is what she honestly believed right then.

"What if he doesn't?" asked Jet in a whisper so his blonde teammate couldn't hear him.

 **With Erza at one of the city's many fountains:**

"He's fine Erza, you even said so yourself." said Wendy as she cautiously walked up to the Knight with both of the Exceeds right behind her.

"I know that, but I can't help but wonder what is so important to him that he can't return to us." she replied with a sad smile as she looked at the fountain that was someone's interpretation of what a Fairy might look like. It didn't look at all like their emblem; it was pretty much just a female human with wings coming out of her back. But something about it drew her to it, if she had to guess it would most likely be that this Fairy was equipped for war.

"Maybe he can't." suggested Wendy, hoping that her making such a suggestion wouldn't cause said Knight to start questioning her. "What I mean by that is what if he's staying away to protect us, or that is at least what he thinks he is doing right now. That's the only thing I can come up with so far as for why he wouldn't return to the guild and us." she mumbled while twirling her fingers together nervously. One of Fairy Tail's youngest members was caught off guard when she was suddenly brought into a tender hug by the Knight she was trying to cheer up.

"Thank you Wendy." she said in a whisper as they continued to hug each other. "That is exactly the kind of stupid reasoning he'd use for not returning to his family and friends, so we both need to do our best to find him and make him realize how wrong he is." she finished with a small smile gracing her face.

"Y-yeah!" stuttered Wendy knowing that she was in a very delicate situation and that if she didn't handle it properly, Erza was sure to notice.

"Well we both better get some rest for tomorrow's games." said Erza to Wendy's shock.

"Sounds good to me." she replied with a bright smile as their group started to head back to the lodge, during which they had a pleasant conversation with each other.

"I think I'm going to stay out here for just a little longer." stated Erza as she looked up at the night sky, a sky that was soon going to start brightening up in a few hours.

"Okay, but don't stay out here too long." replied Wendy before she and Carla went in.

"Is everything fine Erza?" asked Happy as he sat down on her shoulder.

"Did Wendy seem a little different to you today?" she asked him back while looking over at the blue Exceed.

"She seemed to be like her usual self." replied the Exceed with a shrug of his shoulders.

"That's exactly what I mean, she's acting just like she used to when Natsu was with us. And as I'm sure you already know she was one of the ones taking his disappearance the hardest." she stated as she went back to looking at the stars in the night sky.

"True, but I can think of someone that definitely took it worse than her." he said while holding back his snickering with his paws.

"Just because I've been letting you sit on my shoulder doesn't mean you're free to say whatever you want Happy." she said in a tone and with a look that the blue little fur ball knew all too well from his times with Natsu when one of their pranks happened to go off on said woman.

"Aye Sir!" he quickly replied while giving her a trembling salute.

"We should probably get some rest." she said with a soft smile as she scratched the back of his ear to let him know she actually wasn't mad at him.

 **Morning of July 1st inside the waiting room for Fairy Tail at Domus Flau:**

"So what guilds do you think placed after us?" asked Gray, tired of the absolute silence that they had pretty much been sitting in after changing into their new purple outfits.

"Probably the same as last year." answered Jet, only for Gray to gesture for him to continue talking.

"Well I would have to guess that Sabertooth and Repentant Heart finished before us." he started to say but got cut off when one of the coordinators hurriedly opened the door and came rushing in.

"You're up next!" cheered the young lady as she realized that she was supposed to hold the doors for them and went racing back to them.

"Why in the world are you so worked up?" inquired Lucy, even though she almost acted the same way when she first met everyone at Fairy Tail. But that was when they were considered the number one guild in the country, something they could no longer claim unfortunately.

"Because this year is definitely going to be one of the best years ever." answered the lady as she actually started to push them towards the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Alright we're going, no need to be so pushy." stated the celestial mage as she and the rest of her team drew nearer to the entrance of the center arena.

"And in fourth place we have Fairy Tail!" announced Chapati which received a mediocre cheer from the gathered crowd. Chapati then went on to explain to the crowd what just happened to Fairy Tail recently, and with the help of his co-host Yajima they quickly went over the main magic each team member uses.

"To think that after seven years away you and your guild would somehow finish before mine." said Lyon as he and Gray locked eyes with each other.

"Well that's just because we're better." responded his fellow ice mage with a smug grin.

"Isn't that exactly what these games are meant to prove?" asked Jura with a stern look sent Fairy Tail's way. This slightly scared most of their members, especially considering that Jura is one of the Ten Wizard Saints, but luckily for them a huge smile spread across his face the next second.

"You really had us going there." stated Erza as she shook hands with the bald Wizard Saint.

"What do you mean Erza, once these Games start I'm going to do everything in my power to make my guild proud." he replied, once again causing some of the other team members of Fairy Tail to rethink this whole idea.

"Glad to hear, because I wouldn't want to have it any other way." she said with a smile that the very next second turned to an expression of absolute horror.

"My beautiful Erza Dear, I knew that our paths would cross again someday!" announced Ichiya while doing a weird twirl with Trimens and, even weird by their standards, a bunny standing behind him.

"Please stay away from Erza." asked Wendy with a sad little pout, which to Fairy Tail's surprise actually got the Trimens to carry away their Master as he kept shouting out for his Honey.

"What in the world did you just do Wendy?" asked Lucy and Erza at the same time.

"I just remembered that they did almost anything I asked them to last time, so I thought I might as well try it now." she answered in a nervous tone as she twisted the tip of her foot back and forth in the dirt of the arena.

"We definitely need to remember that." stated the blonde as the redhead nodded her head in agreement.

"Why hasn't the next team come out yet?" asked Gray as he looked at the two other teams that hadn't come over to greet them. One of them seemed to consist of all women, with the center one having a very commanding aura about her. While the other team seemed slightly off to him, and that was coming from a Fairy Tail mage which spoke volumes on how odd they were. But part of that could probably be attributed to how most of the members were looking at their group specifically with a crazed look in their eyes.

"Apparently there might be some sort of mistake or something." replied Jet since he wasn't really catching up with the other guilds like everyone else was.

"Sorry Ladies and Gentlemen, we just had to make sure that it was correct before we announced it to all of you." said Chapati over the microphone, easily getting everyone's attention once again. "In third place we have Fairy Tail's B Team!" he yelled out in excitement. Most of the crowd and even the teams thought this was some sort of weird joke, but that ended when Fairy Tail's second team strolled in confidently and was met with a huge cheer.

Of course some of the cheers were from confusion, while others were of how unfair they thought this was or that they must have cheated. But most of those were drowned out by the excitement that sprung up from how unorthodox all of this was, which most were confident would cause these games to be extremely exciting to watch.

"You've got to be kidding me." said Gray with his mouth hanging open as he looked at their other team.

"What's the matter Stripper, afraid that we're going to show you up in every way possible?" asked Gajeel with his trademarked chuckle or whatever you want to call it at the end.

"Of course not Metal Head, I'm just surprised you guys actually made it." he replied, only for a shiver to shoot up his spin when a certain ashen haired beauty spoke up next.

"And why's that Gray? From what I can see our team is made up entirely of S-Class level mages." Mira said with a sweet smile as she gestured to Laxus, Juvia and Cana.

"You know he and Gajeel are just trash talking." chimed in Erza since she could tell that Gray didn't know what to say to get out of the situation that he found himself in.

"Indeed they were, reminds me of the good old days when we would do something similar. Isn't that right red?" she asked with a smirk slowly replacing that sweet smile of hers.

"I definitely wouldn't mind settling things once and for all." Erza growled back as their faces were mere inches away from each other, both of them giving off their own distinctive deadly aura.

"Come on you two." said Lucy only to quickly cower when they both turned to look at her.

"Well as you can all already see, both Fairy Tail teams don't seem to have any sort of problem facing off against each other. Which brings us to our second place team, a group of mages that you all know and love, SABERTOOTH!" announced Chapati, with a deafening shout at the end that caused the rest of the arena to explode in excitement as said mages strutted into the arena.

"Interesting, you sorry losers actually got into the final eight with not just one team but two." stated Sting with a smug smirk as he strolled up to them. "Well it doesn't really matter how many teams you get through the preliminary, trash will always just be trash." he said loud enough for most of the arena to hear, even getting a few laughs

"Who in the hell is this arrogant prick?" asked Laxus, through clenched teeth as he glared at the blonde.

"He might actually be a slight challenge for me." stated Gajeel as he looked at the twin dragon slayers of Sabertooth as if they were his next meal.

"Those are the bastards I was telling all of you about." said Lucy as she and the rest of the two Fairy Tail teams were glaring at the Sabertooth mages.

"I'm really going to enjoy beating the shit out of the two of you." said Mira while giving them her sweet smile, which frankly scared the shit out of the two of them more than the combined glares of all the other Fairy Tail members.

"I told you not speak ill of the dead." hissed Rogue as he glared at his partner.

"Natsu isn't Dead!" yelled Wendy as her magic flared up and the wind around her started to go out of control. Most of the teams and even the crowds were shocked to hear that loud proclamation from such a small and innocent looking girl. But just looking at her right now, they could all clearly see that she definitely wasn't someone to look down upon.

Sting on the other hand was looking at her in shock and slight fear, not because of the power she was currently giving off. No he was scared because of how certain the little girl was of Natsu not being dead, which could only mean she knew he was still alive like he did. But unlike him, she obviously wasn't afraid of the pink haired monster that was more commonly known as Master Viridian or Viridian Death to those not on his good side. Unfortunately that was the side he currently found himself on, and because of that he could barely get any sleep last night as he kept recalling how small he felt just in the man's presence alone.

"On to our final team." said Chapati after clearing his throat to get everyone's attention once again. "This is their only second time competing in these games, but after their performance last year. I'm sure that everyone knows that they're the guild to beat, I give you Repentant Heart!" yelled Chapati as enthusiastically as he could. But just like last year the entire stadium went quiet as the members of the country's number one guild slowly walked in. All of them in their cloaks or coats with hoods up so you couldn't really see who they were.

"Go Repentant Heart!" shouted out a feminine voice, causing the Fairy Tail members in both the arena and stands to look at the source in shock. Sitting on the ledge right next to Master Makarov was none other than Mavis Vermilion, the founder and first Master of their guild. Currently she was the only person cheering for the guild of ex-dark mages and seemed intent on giving them her full support.

"What in the world are you doing here, and better yet why are you cheering for another guild?" asked Makarov loud enough for some of the people around their large booth to look at him funny.

"It was boring on Tenrou, so I decided to come here and cheer you guys on instead." she replied while giving him an adorable smile.

"Fair enough, but that still doesn't explain why you're cheering on a different guild." he stated in a calm voice since he recovered from the shock of seeing her here of all places.

"Let's just say that I can tell Fairy Tail was a huge inspiration for that guild. A guild made specifically to give a second chance to those that the rest of the world has given up on. Also I really like their guild Master." she answered in a cheery tone while pointing across the stadium at a box that held what most of the Fiore would assume was the rest of the Repentant Heart guild. It only had seven members in it at the moment, three of which actually had their hoods down and you could see they were smiling down at their fellow guild members. While the other four still had their hoods up to obstruct anyone's view of their faces, but even with the hoods up Makarov could tell how proud all of them were of their team that just now made it to the center of the arena.

"Well isn't that a warm welcome." said Ikaruga as she pulled down her hood and smiled at the other teams.

"What did you ex-dark mages expect?" asked Orga while glaring at the Repentant Heart team, not noticing how Sting and Rogue discreetly slipped towards the back of their team.

"Maybe a little bit of cheering considering that not only did we win last year but we're also the number one guild by jobs completed as well." she replied while getting her hair to the way that she likes it, which only made Orga even more upset with her.

"Why you stuck up whore." he hissed out only for the shadow underneath him to form into a body of its own and pick him up off of the ground by his throat.

"I would think carefully about your next words Orga." said the cloaked figure that most of the country knew as Shadow.

"Why, are you going to kill me if I keep calling that bitch by her actual profession?" asked the lightning mage between labored breaths.

"No, I'm going to personally make your life a living hell Orga Nanagear. If you thought your earlier years when you couldn't find a job were tough then wait until it isn't even possible for you to find work as a hired hand." said Master Viridian now holding the Sabertooth mage by his throat instead of the shadow.

"Master Jiemma, said you were extremely protective of your guild members." replied Orga with a smug smirk slowly spreading across his face. "Now it looks like you and the rest of your guild will be disqualified." he finished with a little chuckle.

"And what on earthland would make you think that?" asked Viridian with a little chuckle of his own.

"Just look around you, you fucking idiot, you just attacked a participating guild member from a different guild." replied Orga while gesturing to the whole arena. But that is when he finally realized something was off about all of this; he didn't hear any of the noise he expected to hear like shocked gasps. Instead all the lightning mage heard was the laughter of the other members of Repentant Heart, and the terrified breaths of his fellow teammates as they could only stand there and watch for some reason.

"Looks like you finally realized that the only people witnessing our little chat are your fellow teammates who can't help you right now and my guild of course, couldn't let them miss out on all the fun. Of course there is also another guild Master watching from a different guild that plans to play dirty during these games. Hopefully he'll now have second thoughts about doing such a thing." he said while giving a wicked smile to Alexei, which only confused Orga even more since Ivan was supposed to be the guild Master of Raven Tail and he was still up in the stands.

"Well it seems you forgot about one key thing Viridian." replied Orga as a smirk once again started to spread across his face. "I'm a Lightning God Slayer!" he surprisingly bellowed as he discharged as much of his magic as he could. He expected to feel the grip on his neck loosen and his feet to return to the ground, but instead of that happening the grip on his throat closed to the point that he was certain he was going to die.

"That was extremely stupid of you Orga, you almost killed yourself there." he said in a deep and gravelly voice as his eyes started to glow green from under his hood. As this was happening the poor lightning mage realized that Viridian was completely covered in green flames except for the hand holding his throat. But it didn't stop there for him, no he had to gasp for air for an agonizing minute as Viridian's magic kept coming out from him. It was after this minute that Orga realized he was no longer being choked anymore and it was now only because of the man standing before him with an intense glare.

"This isn't a commonly known fact about me, but the Council and the Kingdom both thought it would be beneficial for all parties involved that I had a few grace kills." stated Viridian as he continued to glare at the mage that was so sure of himself just a few minutes ago. "You're probably wondering what a grace kill is, well it's the a death of an innocent which unfortunately can happen every now and then with my line of work. Luckily so far I've got a perfect record, but the funny thing is that could easily change the next time you happen to be out on a job that just so happens to intersect with a job I'm currently working on. Accidents like that seem to happen all the time for the Council so they wouldn't even look into it." he finished with a wicked smirk that showed off his fangs, which only terrified Orga more than he already was.

"S-so what are you going to do?" the lightning mage asked as bravely as he could muster.

"I'm going to show you exactly how that would turn out for all of you." replied Viridian as a stream of his green flames washed over the man below him.

At first Orga didn't feel a thing, then the next second he was screaming his lungs out as he tried to put out the green flames quickly eating away at his arms. All of his fellow teammates looked on in horror as they literally couldn't even move a muscle to help him, or even let out a scream for help. After his arms were gone the flames moved on to his legs, after which they continued on their path up his body until there was nothing left of the lightning god slayer.

"So what are your next words going to be Orga?" asked Shadow with a little smirk spread across his lips. The man's next words weren't really words at all and were more of a blood curdling scream that shocked all of the spectators and other teams as Orga reeled back from the Repentant Heart members. And he wasn't the only one that was backing away from them, so was the rest of his team who all looked as if they had just seen Zeref himself.

"I didn't know Sabertooth had such loud screamers in their guild." taunted Ikaruga as she slowly started to walk towards them.

"What did you do to us!" shouted out Rufus as he helped Orga up and kept backing away from her.

"We didn't do anything to you or the big cry baby there, and the entire stadium can attest to that." she replied while gesturing to the crowd all around them.

"B-b-but h-he w-w-was r-right t-t-there!" stuttered out Orga as he pointed to Master Viridian and then to the spot that he used be held up in the air by a shadow a second ago. "H-h-he k-killed m-m-me!" he finished with a blank look in his eyes.

"Oh, now I see what happened." she said with a devious smile spread across her lips. "You have quite the overactive imagination don't you? And because of that along with all of the stories where our Master tears apart anyone threatening our guild, you visualized what would happen if you continued to disrespect me and my fellow teammates like you were." she said while turning away from them and heading back to her team.

"Like hell that happened, we all saw it too!" shouted out Rufus.

"Is that so, because so far all I'm hearing is just you backing up that story of his." she replied with her usual smug smirk on her lips. "And if some of the rumors I hear about the two of you are true, then of course his lover would go along with his delusions." she finished, causing most of the crowd to let out a shocked gasp.

"That's complete bullshit!" he shouted back to her while literally shaking with rage. "Come on guys, tell them how we all saw the same thing as Orga." he said while looking back at the other three. What he saw shocked him, the usually confident and outspoken Sting was looking away with Rogue acting similar. As for Yukino their only female member on the team, she looked too scared to even form any sort of coherent speech.

"Why don't you just take your lover and head back to your box." suggested Ikaruga while still smirking at the Sabertooth mages.

"Well it's safe to say that none of us saw that coming, and considering that both sides were in the wrong. And our officials detected no hints of illegal use of magic no actions will be taken against either of the guilds." announced Chapati as all of the teams were then told to head back to their booths and await for the announcement of the first event. During this time a certain area around a large man sitting in the crowds was quickly evacuated due to the menacing aura coming off of him as he glared at the Master of Repentant Heart.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading as always, and I honestly wanted to cover the entire first day in this but unfortunately that didn't seem possible unless I wanted it to be ridiculously long. So with that in mind I'm going to try and cover at least the first two days of the Grand Magic Game in the next chapter. Also if you didn't notice, the guild that didn't make it that did in canon was Quatro Cerberus. And because of that I'm going to have some of the fights change from what they were in canon, while some of them won't and I'll more than likely gloss over those since they will stay the same as canon. This will also be the best time to tell me who you want to see going up against who in the upcoming chapters, of course I won't be able to do everyone's suggestion but hopefully I'll be able to do some of them. Well as always feel free to leave a review or PM and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


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